The BC Wildfire Service has issued a fire ban for most of the province, including the Southeast Fire Centre. Every year the service, as well as local fire departments and RCMP, respond to calls regarding campers, residents, and all sorts still having fires after the ban is issued.
Due to several wildfires burning in Southeast and the Kamloops region, mixed with hot and dry conditions, the fire danger ratings are now generally at moderate or high.
Forest fuels are drying out quickly. Hot weather and dry lightning are in the forecast and it is crucial to reduce the risk of human-caused wildfires.
This prohibition applies to all public and private land. Also prohibited are the use of outdoor stoves, chimneys, air curtain burners, sky lanterns, fireworks, firecrackers, burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description, the use of tiki torches, and binary exploding targets used for rifle target practice.
Speaking with the local fire warden, Gord Hogaboam, he reiterated the ban, which came into effect July 26 at noon. Crews have already been deployed to fires at MacDonald Creek and Wilson Falls, as well as in Hills. While these fires are under control, the more that start burning, the more stretched local resources become and that increases the risk again. With this hot, dry weather, it does not take much to spark the bush. There has been one lightning storm this season already and forecasters point out that weather in the Kootenays can change quickly. Don’t hesitate to call in a fire, no matter what it’s location, a mountain or your neighbour’s yard.
The News also met with Fire Chief Terry Warren and he strongly echoed Hogaboam’s comment; total fire ban. The local fire detachment follows to the letter the bans and restrictions put in place by BC Wildfire Service and the province of B.C., fines and charges will be brought against those that break the law by not adhering to them as well. The Nakusp Fire Department and Chief Warren urges everyone to do their part so firefighters can do their jobs and keep us all safe.
These prohibitions do not apply to CSA-rated or ULC-rated cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes, or to a portable campfire apparatus that uses briquettes, liquid or gas, so long as the height of the flame is less than 15 centimetres.
Fines for having a fire is $1,150 per person found to be participating. Tossing a cigarette butt will cost you $575, even if a fire doesn’t catch or spread. If you do cause a fire it is not just fines you will be paying, but potentially criminal charges as well as being responsible for the total cost of fighting the fire.
RCMP are still looking for the pilot of a drone that forced the suspension of air operations above a wildfire near Nakusp on July 22.
The drone grounded one helicopter supporting ground crews at the Wilson Creek fire, which is about 19 kilometres east of Nakusp, according to a statement from the BC Wildfire Service.
Other aircraft working on fires in the area also had to be moved off their flight paths to avoid the Little Wilson Lake airspace.
Flying drones within a radius of five nautical miles or an altitude of 3,000 feet above a wildfire is illegal. Federal penalties include fines of up to $25,000 or imprisonment for up to 18 months.
Meanwhile, ground and air crews from the Southeast Fire Centre continue their battle against a wildfire near the U.S. border southwest of Rossland.
Six skimmers (water tankers), 25 personnel, two helicopters and a bulldozer worked the fire, located about a kilometer north of the U.S. border and 14 km from Rossland.
Initially estimated at 10 hectares, SEFC staff refined that number, and say the fire is about 16 hectares in size.
