Local residents are bracing themselves for what could be another hot, dry – and some fear, fiery – summer.
Unseasonably warm weather resulted in a ban on all open burning throughout the Lakes District last week as provincial officials sought to limit the risk of wildfire. The prohibition, which includes all campfires and fireworks, went into effect noon Friday (July 3) for all areas of the province except the “fog zone” on Vancouver Island’s west coast.
The use of cooking stoves that burn gas, propane, or briquettes is still permitted, as well as CSA or ULC rated portable campfire apparatus that generate a flame 15 cm or less in length. At present, industrial activities within provincial forests are not affected, although logging companies and others working on Crown land are required to assess the fire hazard in their areas of operation and prevent fire starts.
Individuals who fail to observe the current prohibition face stiff penalties. Fire wardens are already patrolling the region, and anyone found in contravention of the open burning ban can be fined $345 or compelled to pay an administrative penalty of $10,000. Alleged offenders who elect to fight the ticket in court and lose could end up paying a fine ten times as large and serving a one-year jail term.
Provincial officials say the ban on open burning is necessary to prevent loss of life, property, and natural resources in B.C. It will remain in effect noon on September 30 or the public is otherwise notified, according to Olivia Pojar, fire information officer for the B.C. Wildfire Service’s Northwest Fire Centre.
Pojar said late Friday that the fire hazard rating in most sections of the Nadina Natural Resource District (which includes the Burns Lake and Houston areas) is high except around Morice Lake south of Houston, where it is considered “extreme.” She noted that while environmental conditions played a key part in the government’s decision to ban open fires across the province, other factors also came into play.
“The decision (to ban open burning) was due to multiple factors,” she explained. “Weather in B.C. has been unusually hot and dry for the time of year, with below-normal amounts of precipitation for June. There is currently a high level of fire activity across Western Canada, and this could limit the B.C. Wildfire Service’s ability to bring in additional resources and personnel from other agencies outside B.C., as they are already engaged elsewhere. Therefore, due to the high level of fire hazard and wildfire activity across the province, the decision was made to put this ban in place across B.C.”
Individuals hoping for an early end to the current campfire ban may be disappointed. Environment Canada’s latest forecast suggests the current hot, dry weather will continue into the weekend.
“The forecast for the next few days is similar for most of the fire centre, with the Cassiar fire zone seeing scattered showers or thundershowers in some areas and temperatures of low 20s,” said Pojar. “There is potential for scattered showers in some areas of the fire centre by Friday, with cooling temperatures (20s) later in the week.”
Pojar noted that fire danger ratings can change daily. The best source of information, she said, is the B.C. Wildfire Service website (www.bcwildfire.ca).
This summer has already been a busy one for B.C.’s beleaguered firefighters, who are currently responding to 150 blazes across the province.
Closer to home, the Northwest Fire Centre in Smithers, which monitors fire activity across 25 million hectares of Northwestern B.C., has detected nearly four dozen wildfires to date, nine in the Nadina fire zone alone.
Those figures, notes Pojar, are well above the region’s 10-year average of 34 for this time of year.
Provincial officials are hoping this summer won’t be a repeat of the 2014 wildfire season, one of the most destructive on record.
Between April and November 2014, wildfires destroyed nearly 360,000 hectares of land across the province – making it the third worst wildfire season on record.