Category 3 fires will be banned in the Southeast Fire District from June 12 as the BC Wildfire Service tries to prevent wildfires.
Category 3 open fires will be prohibited throughout the Southeast Fire Centre’s jurisdiction, which includes the Rocky Mountain Natural Resource District and the Selkirk Natural Resource District.
A map indicating the areas affected by this prohibition is available online here.
Prohibited activities that would constitute a Category 3 open fire include:
* any fire larger than two metres high by three metres wide;
* three or more concurrently burning piles no larger than two metres high by three metres wide;
* burning of one or more windrows; and
* burning of stubble or grass over an area greater than 0.2 hectares.
The BC Wildfire Service explained that the prohibition does not ban campfires that are a half-metre high by a half-metre wide or smaller, and does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes. It also does not ban Category 2 fires, which include one or two concurrently burning piles up to two metres high by three metres wide each, 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 here.
“The BC Wildfire Service is implementing this prohibition to help prevent wildfires caused by Category 3 burning and to protect public safety,” said BC Wildfire Service in a post on social media.
“A big thank you to the public for their continued help in preventing wildfires.”
Anyone conducting a Category 3 fire anywhere in the Southeast Fire Centre’s jurisdiction must extinguish it by the June 12 deadline. This prohibition will remain in place until the public is otherwise notified. The prohibition applies to all public and private land, unless specified otherwise.
Follow the BC Wildfire Service online here.
