Effective at noon on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015, campfires
will once again be permitted in the Campbell River Natural Resource
District, within the Coastal Fire Centre’s jurisdiction.
Campfires will be permitted on Vancouver Island:
* north of Hindoo Creek (near Buckley Bay)
* in Strathcona Provincial Park
* north of Nootka Sound
Campfires will be permitted on the mainland:
* east of a line drawn from Moh Creek (on the north shore of Butte
Inlet) up to and including Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park
The Coastal Fire Centre is lifting the campfire prohibition in these
areas due to the amount of precipitation that was recently received and
a forecast of additional precipitation in the coming days.
Campfires are also allowed in the North Island-Central Coast Natural
Resource District, the “Fog Zone” and Haida Gwaii. The Fog Zone is a
band of land on the west coast of Vancouver Island that’s two
kilometres wide and runs from Owen Point near Port Renfrew to the
eastern boundary of the District of Port Hardy.
A detailed map of affected areas is available online at:
http://bit.ly/1hwsHBG
A list of popular recreational destinations that also shows whether
campfires are allowed at those sites is available online at:
http://bit.ly/1gA4ucQ
All other types of open fires remain prohibited throughout the Coastal
Fire Centre’s jurisdiction, including backyard burning and land-
clearing burn piles. Burning barrels, burning cages, fireworks,
firecrackers, tiki torches, sky lanterns and binary exploding targets
are also prohibited.
This prohibition does 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.
This prohibition does not apply within the boundaries of a local
government that has wildfire prevention bylaws in place and is serviced
by a fire department. However, since local governments may have their
own burning regulations in place, always check with them before
lighting any fire of any size.
Anyone found in contravention of an open burning prohibition may be
issued a ticket for $345, 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.
