“We still haven’t taken steps to inform people not to smoke in our public areas,” Lake Country Coun. Blair Ireland said at Tuesday’s council meeting. “It’s threatening our community and we need to do something about it.”
Since April 1, 2019, there have been 84 wildfires in the Kamloops fire region, according to BC Wildfire.
As it stands, 82 per cent of those fires have been human caused, according to BC Wildfire, noting the numbers continue to fluctuate due to ongoing investigations.
Last season, far too many fires were caused by people. We need everyone in the province to be extra careful this year. Learn more at https://t.co/iAN9rWLZS1 and follow @BCGovFireInfo for all the latest #BCWildfire information. Take care this weekend. pic.twitter.com/yt9VdbbQYA
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) June 7, 2019
Further, in the Vernon to Penticton zone, there have been a total of 26 fires since April 1, 2019 and 21 of those are believed to be human caused.
Sanitary measures, respect for neighbours and fire safety are the purposes driving council’s wish for proper non-smoking signage.
“I definitely do take a number of complaints about the lack of signage,” Lake Country Coun. Todd McKenzie said, “and the lack of respect from people that are sitting on the beaches beside people and think nothing of blowing smoke in little kids’ faces and so on.
“I do agree there needs to be better signage there.”
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Coun. Ireland said residents would like to be able to tell people not to smoke, but there’s nothing in the bylaws or signage that can back them up.
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Lake Country Fire Chief Steve Windsor reminds residents that smoking isn’t permitted in any parks, regardless of signage or lack thereof. He said this isn’t just a Lake Country stipulation, every municipality through the Okanagan can attribute wildfires caused by cigarettes.
“Historically, we’ve seen some pretty big fires caused by smoking,” he said.
Effective at noon on Wednesday June 12, Category 2 & Category 3 open fires, as well as some other activities and the use of certain equipment, will be restricted throughout the #Kamloops Fire Centre to help prevent human-caused wildfires. More info: https://t.co/KWiIADhqHD pic.twitter.com/NgnlanoS7O
— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) June 8, 2019
“We can do better,” said Lake Country Mayor James Baker.
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