KAMLOOPS – Effective at 12:00 p.m. (noon) PDT, on May 16, 2025, Category 3 open fire will be prohibited throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety. This open fire prohibition will remain in effect until 12:00 p.m. (noon) PDT on Oct. 17, 2025, or until the orders are rescinded.
Anyone conducting Category 3 open fires within the Kamloops Fire Centre’s jurisdiction must extinguish those fires by the 12:00 p.m. (noon) May 16 deadline.
A map of the affected area is available below or online.
Category 3 open fire, as defined in the Wildfire Regulation, refers to any fire that burns:
- Material concurrently in 3 or more piles each not exceeding 2 metres in height and 3 metres in width
- Material in one or more piles each exceeding 2 metres in height or 3 metres in width
- One or more windrows, none of which exceed 200 metres in length or 15 metres in width
- Stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 hectares
This prohibition does not ban Category 1 campfires or Category 2 open fires. More information on open burning, including a description of each category of burn, is available online.
This prohibition applies to all areas in the Fire Centre that are outside of municipal boundaries. In addition, this prohibition applies to the following types of 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)
Municipalities often follow BC Wildfire Service prohibitions or may impose different prohibitions based on conditions in their local area. If you are in 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.
Offences and fines
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 3 years in jail, as well as be responsible for all firefighting and associated costs. More information about the Wildfire Act and Regulation is available online.
Report a wildfire
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 1 800 663 5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cell phone. You can also use the Report function in the BC Wildfire App to report a wildfire. Reporting through the app lets you upload images and can be used without service.
Stay up to date
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
Kamloops Fire Centre
BC Wildfire Service
250-554-5965
Connect with the Province of B.C. at www.gov.bc.ca/connect.