As of noon on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017, an amended area restriction order for Crown land in the vicinity of the Elephant Hill wildfire came into effect to support ongoing firefighting operations.

This area restriction will remain in place until noon on Oct. 31, 2017 or until the public is otherwise notified. The modified area restriction is in place to help protect public safety and to ensure the safety of firefighting personnel.

The area restriction order applies to all Crown land within the geographic boundaries shown on the map posted online at: http://ow.ly/llPC30f8qnc

Under this order and Section 11(2) of the Wildfire Act, a person must not remain in or enter the Elephant Hill wildfire restricted area without the prior written authorization of an official designated for the purposes of the Wildfire Act, unless the person enters the area only in the course of:

• travelling to or from his or her principal residence that is not under an evacuation order;
• travelling to or from leased property for the purpose of accessing a secondary residence or recreational property that is not under an evacuation order;
• using a highway as defined in the Transportation Act,
• travelling as a person acting in an official capacity;
• travelling for the purpose of supporting wildfire suppression activities;
• engaging and/or participating in a commercial activity within the regular course of the person’s business or employment on private or leased lands, and
• engaging and/or participating in agricultural activities pertaining to livestock management between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on private or leased property.

The area restriction order does not apply to private land, the garbage dump or transfer station.

This modified area restriction order replaces Area Restriction Order KFC2017-034, which took effect Sept. 3, 2017 for Crown land around the Elephant Hill wildfire.

Evacuation orders and evacuation alerts issued by the Thompson-Nicola Regional District remain in place. For more information about these alerts and orders, please visit the Thompson-Nicola Regional District website at: www.tnrd.ca

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: www.bcwildfire.ca

You can also follow the latest wildfire news on:

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