Effective at noon on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018, the existing campfire ban in the Coastal Fire Centre will be expanded to include Haida Gwaii.

The Category 2 and Category 3 open burn prohibition that was implemented in Haida Gwaii on July 25, 2018, remains in place.

The Coastal Fire Centre is expanding the campfire ban due to unseasonably dry and hot conditions in Haida Gwaii. This step will help protect public safety and prevent human-caused wildfires, which are entirely preventable and divert critical firefighting resources away from naturally occurring fires.

The campfire ban in Haida Gwaii will remain in effect until Oct. 20, 2018, or until the public is otherwise notified. A map of the affected area is available online: http://ow.ly/5x2230ljfFw

All open fires are already prohibited elsewhere in the Coastal Fire Centre, except for campfires in the area known as the fog zone (see description below).

The following activities will also be prohibited in Haida Gwaii:

• open burning of woody debris in outdoor stoves
• the use of tiki torches, 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)

These prohibitions apply to all public and private land unless specified otherwise — for example, in a local government bylaw. Please check with local government authorities for any other restrictions before lighting any fire.

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, as 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.

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

Quick Fact:

• The fog zone is a two-kilometre strip of land along the outer coast of Vancouver Island, stretching from Owen Point (near Port Renfrew) north to the tip of Vancouver Island and around to the boundary of the District of Port Hardy. This strip extends inland two kilometres from the high tide point.

Learn More:

A map of the fog zone is available online at: http://ow.ly/bCJc30caIul

A poster explaining the different categories of open burning is available online at: http://ow.ly/znny309kJv5