SMITHERS – Effective at 12 p.m. (noon) PDT on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, Category 2 open burning will be prohibited across the entire Northwest Fire Centre.
Category 3 open burning remains prohibited across the Northwest Fire Centre, which includes the Nadina Forest District, the Coast Mountain Forest District and the Skeena Stikine Forest District. These prohibitions will remain in place until 12 p.m. (noon) PDT on Thursday, September 25, 2026, or until the public is otherwise notified.
Additional prohibited activities and equipment
In addition to Category 2 and Category 3 open fires, the following activities and use of equipment, materials and substances will also be prohibited:
- Binary exploding targets
- Fireworks, as defined in the Fireworks Act of BC
- Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description
- Controlled air incinerators
- Air curtain burners
- Carbonizers
This prohibition does not apply to Category 1 (campfires) that are half-metre high by half-metre wide or smaller, or the use of cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes.
It is each individuals responsibility to ensure that burning is done safely, in accordance with regulations. For more information about open burning, visit the open fire and safer burning webpage.
Please view a map of the affected areas below.
A Category 2 open fire is a fire that:
- Burns material in one pile not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width,
- Burns material concurrently in two piles each not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width, or
- Burns stubble or grass over an area that does not exceed 0.2 ha.
A Category 3 open fire is a fire that:
- Burns material concurrently in three or more piles each not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width
- Burns material in one or more piles each exceeding two metres in height or three metres in width
- Has one or more windrows, none of which exceed 200 metres in length or 15 metres in width
- Has stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 ha.
The prohibition applies to all areas that are outside of municipal boundaries. In addition, this prohibition applies to the following types of Crown land within municipal boundaries:
- Parks, conservancies and recreation areas (Park Act)
- Recreation sites, recreation trails, interpretive forest sites and trail-based recreation areas (Forest and Range Practices Act)
- Ecological reserves (Ecological Reserve Act)
- Wildlife management areas (Wildlife Act)
- Private managed forest land (Private Managed Forest Land Act)
- All lands in the District of Stewart municipality
Municipalities may align with BC Wildfire Service prohibitions or impose their own prohibitions based on local conditions. If you are within a municipality, be sure to check if local prohibitions are in place. If you are within a regional district or improvement district, this prohibition applies as well as any local prohibition issued by the regional district or improvement district. BC Parks follows BC Wildfire Service prohibitions.
Anyone found in contravention of an open fire prohibition may be issued a ticket for $1,150, required to pay an administrative penalty of $10,000, or, if convicted in court, fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced for up to one year in jail.
If your fire causes or contributes to a wildfire, you may be fined up to $1 million and/or sentenced to up to three years in jail, as well as be responsible for all firefighting and associated costs. More information about the Wildfire Act and Regulation is available here.
Contact:
BC Wildfire Service
Information Officer
Northwest Fire Centre
BCWS.NWFCInfo@gov.bc.ca
250-876-6844 Connect with the Province of B.C. at www.gov.bc.ca/connect