KAMLOOPS – Effective at 12 p.m. (noon) PDT on Thursday, May 18, 2023, Category 2 and Category 3 open fires, as well as other equipment and activities will be prohibited throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre. This prohibition is being enacted to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety.
This prohibition will remain in effect until 12 p.m. (noon) PDT on Oct. 13, 2023, or until the order is rescinded. Anyone conducting Category 2 or Category 3 open fires within the Kamloops Fire Centre’s jurisdiction must extinguish those fires by the noon deadline on May 18, 2023.
A map of the affected area is available here.
Specifically, this prohibition refers to the following activities:
“category 2 open fire” which means an open fire, other than a category 1 campfire, that
- burns material in one pile not exceeding 2 m in height and 3 m in width,
- burns material concurrently in 2 piles each not exceeding 2 m in height and 3 m in width, or
- burns stubble or grass over an area that does not exceed 0.2 ha.
“category 3 open fire” which means an open fire that burns
- material concurrently in 3 or more piles each not exceeding 2 m in height and 3 m in width,
- material in one or more piles each exceeding 2 m in height or 3 m in width,
- one or more windrows, each not exceeding 200 m in length or 15 m in width, or
- stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 ha.
Also prohibited are the activities listed below (Wildfire Act, Section 12):
- Fireworks
- Sky lanterns
- Binary exploding targets
- Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description
- Air curtain burners
These prohibitions apply to all public and private land within the Kamloops Fire Centre jurisdiction, unless specified otherwise in an enactment (e.g. in a local government bylaw). Before lighting any fire, people should check with local government authorities to see if any other burning restrictions are in effect.
Anyone found in contravention of an open burning prohibition may be issued a ticket for $1,150, required to pay an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 or, if convicted in court, fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail. If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs.
This prohibition does not ban category 1 campfires that are a half-metre high by a high-metre wide or smaller and does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane, or briquettes. More information on the types of open burning is available online.
The Kamloops Fire Centre would like to thank the public for its continuing help in preventing wildfires. To report a wildfire, unattended campfire or open burning violation, call 1 800 6635555 toll-free or *5555 on a cell phone. For up-to-date information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air quality advisories, call 1 888 3-FOREST or visit www.bcwildfire.ca.
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Contact:
Fire Information Officer
BC Wildfire Service
Kamloops Fire Centre
250 554-5965