The BC Wildfire Service will ban Category 2 and Category 3 open fires in the Kamloops Fire Centre effective noon on June 12.
It is to help prevent human-caused wildfires, and the ban will be in effect until noon on October 15, unless otherwise announced.
“Anyone conducting Category 2 or Category 3 burns within the Kamloops Fire Centre’s jurisdiction must extinguish those fires by the June 12 deadline,” said Fire Information Officer Marla Catherall.
The order will apply to both public and private land unless otherwise specified, and Catherall says people are asked to check for restrictions with local government authorities before lightning any fires.
“The order bans open fires larger than one metre high by two metres wide and stubble or grass fires on any size,” she added. “Also banned is the use of fireworks, firecrackers, sky lanterns, tiki torches or similar kinds of torches, the use of burning barrels and burning cages of any size, and the use of binary exploding targets such as Tannerite, Thundershot, Gryphon, Firebird SS65, Sure Shot, or anything of a similar nature.”
Campfires that are no larger than half-metre high by a half-metre wide are allowed, as is the use of cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes.
The fines for violating the order range from a ticket for $1,150, paying an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 or, if convicted in court, a fine of up to $100,000 and/or one year in jail.
The Wildfire Service also says a person responsible for a fire may be required to pay all firefighting and other costs if their actions either cause or lead to a wildfire.