Open burning (Black Press Media)

BC Wildfire Service expands Category 3 open fire prohibition

Prohibition is to prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety

  • May. 28, 2021 12:00 a.m.

Category 3 open fires will be partially prohibited to the west side of the high-water mark of the Fraser River within the Cariboo Chilcotin Forest District and the Tsilhqot’in (Xeni Gwet’in) Declared Title Area, effective May 31.

This expanded open burning prohibition, implemented in co-operation with the Tsilhqot’in National Government, is being done to prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety, the BC Wildfire Service said in a news release. The prohibition will remain in place until Oct. 1.

Prohibited activities that would constitute a Category 3 open fire include: any fires larger than two meters high by three meters wide; three or more concurrently burning piles no larger than two meters high by three meters wide; burning of one or more windrows; and burning of stubble or grass over an area greater than 0.2 hectares.

Category 3 open fires have been prohibited throughout the 100 Mile Forest District since May 31 and this expansion into the Cariboo Chilcotin Forest District and Tsilhqot’in (Xeni Gwet’in) Declared Title Area will remain in place until Oct. 1 or until the public is otherwise notified.

This prohibition does not ban campfires that are half-metre high by a high-metre wide or smaller, and does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes.

This prohibition also does not ban Category 2 fires, which include one or two concurrently burning piles up to two metres high by three metres wide, or the burning of stubble or grass over an area less than 0.2 hectares.

A poster explaining the different categories of open burning is available online: http://ow.ly/znny309kJv5


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