The campfire ban in the Kamloops Fire Centre, including the Lillooet fire zone, was rescinded effective last Friday, Aug. 24
A campfire ban remains in place in all of the Okanagan, including the Vernon and Penticton fire zones.
Lillooet Fire Department Chief David Harder told the News Aug. 27 the ban would remain in effect within the District’s boundaries until this Friday, Aug. 31.
“Fire values remain high here, rains were localized and we have manpower issues, so we will keep the ban in place in Lillooet until Friday,” said Harder.
The Ministry of Forests says this partial rescinding of the campfire ban is due to rain received overnight last Thursday, resulting in lower fire danger ratings in those areas.
The campfire prohibition does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes, or to a portable campfire apparatus with a CSA or ULC rating that uses briquettes, liquid or gaseous fuel, so long as the height of the flame is less than 15 centimetres.
Wildfire Management Branch personnel have responded to 65 wildfires in the past week in the Kamloops Fire Centre. Ninety-two percent of these wildfires have been contained to less than four hectares in size. Over 400 personnel have contributed to this success, including local contract firefighting crews, fire wardens, pilots, heavy equipment operators and out-of-province initial attack crews. The Fire Centre thanks all of its partners for their co-operation during this period of increased wildfire activity.
Open burning continues to be prohibited throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre. This prohibition applies to open fires larger than a half-metre high by a half-metre wide, fires with a burn registration number, industrial burning, fireworks and burning barrels.
The open burning prohibition covers all BC Parks, Crown and private lands, but does not apply within the boundaries of local governments that have forest fire prevention bylaws and are serviced by a fire department. Please check with local governments for any other restrictions before lighting a fire.
