Effective at noon on Friday, May 17, 2019, Category 2 open burning will once again be allowed throughout the Northwest Fire Centre’s jurisdiction.

The BC Wildfire Service plans to conduct a 39-hectare prescribed burn in the Date Creek area, about 26 kilometres northwest of the Village of Kispiox, to prepare the site for replanting and help reduce wildfire risks.

Due to increasing temperatures in parts of the Northwest Fire Centre, the BC Wildfire Service will implement a Category 2 open fire prohibition within the Nadina, Bulkley and Skeena fire zones of the Northwest Fire Centre.

The BC Wildfire Service, in collaboration with BC Parks, will be burning piles of wood debris in Call Lake Provincial Park between April 15 and May 31, 2019, as part of a multi-year FireSmart project to reduce wildfire risks in the area.

The Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako and the Tahltan First Nation are being awarded more than $219,000 for three projects under the special circumstance provision of the BC Rural Dividend.

Given the recent mild and dry weather conditions in the Northwest Fire Centre, the BC Wildfire Service encourages members of the public and industry personnel to exercise caution when doing any outdoor burning.

The rehabilitation of land impacted by the suppression of wildfires in 2018 is underway throughout the Northwest Fire Centre, with work being done at 12 of the most significant fire sites.

One of the areas hit hardest by this year’s wildfires has reached a milestone in its recovery as a result of close collaboration between the B.C. government and the Gitxsan First Nation.

Under B.C.’s Water Sustainability Act, British Columbians who are using groundwater (from a well or dugout) for non-domestic uses on their property are required to submit a groundwater-licence application by March 1, 2019.

The BC Wildfire Service is aware of Category 3 open burning operations planned along Highway 37 in the Meziadin Junction area, about 55 kilometres east of Stewart and about 245 kilometres south of Dease Lake.