Effective at noon on Aug. 17, 2016, campfires and Category 3 open fires will be prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre, with the exception of Haida Gwaii and the area known as the “Fog Zone”.

The Fog Zone is a band of land two kilometres wide that runs from Owen Point near Port Renfrew to the district boundary of Port Hardy.

Anyone lighting a campfire or conducting a Category 3 burn anywhere in the Coastal Fire Centre, with the exception of Haida Gwaii and the Fog Zone, must extinguish any such fires by noon on Aug. 17, 2016. The existing Category 2 open burning prohibition remains in place.

A poster explaining the different categories of open burning is available online at: http://ow.ly/jdO5301kS32

The Coastal Fire Centre is implementing the additional prohibitions due to increasing temperatures and because there is no precipitation currently forecasted for the region. This prohibition will remain in effect until Oct. 21, 2016 or the public is otherwise notified.

The following activities will not be allowed:

• campfires, as defined by the Wildfire Regulation (burning of woody debris)
• open fires (using woody debris) in an outdoor stove
• tiki torches
• the use of fireworks, firecrackers, sky lanterns, burning barrels or burning cages of any size or description
• the use of binary exploding targets (e.g. for rifle target practice)

The campfire ban and Category 3 prohibition cover all BC Parks, Crown lands and private lands within the Coastal Fire Centre, with the exception of Haida Gwaii and the Fog Zone. They do not apply within the boundaries of a local government that has wildfire prevention bylaws in place and is serviced by a fire department.

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 gaseous fuel, so long as the height of the flame is less than 15 centimetres.

Anyone found in contravention of an open burning prohibition may be issued a violation ticket for $1,150, required to pay an administrative penalty of $10,000 or, if convicted in court, fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail. If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs.

The Coastal Fire Centre covers all of the area west of the height of land on the Coast Mountain Range from the U.S.-Canada border at Manning Park, including Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park in the north, the Sunshine Coast, the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Haida Gwaii.

A map of the affected area is available online at: http://ow.ly/cL6L303gphO

To report a wildfire or open burning violation, call 1 800 663-5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cellphone. For the latest information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air quality advisories, go to: http://www.bcwildfire.ca

You can also follow the latest wildfire news on:

• Twitter at: https://twitter.com/BCGovFireInfo
• Facebook at: http://facebook.com/BCForestFireInfo