Most open burning activities will be prohibited for Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast beginning at the end of this week.
The Coastal Fire Centre announced Category 2, and 3 fires will be prohibited throughout the region, being in place until October 31 or until rescinded.
The ban applies to fireworks, binary exploding targets, burn barrels or cages, controlled air incinerators, air curtain burners, and carbonizers.
The prohibition doesn’t apply to campfires which are half-metre high by half-metre wide or smaller and cooking stoves which use gas.
Anyone lighting a campfire must maintain a fireguard by removing flammable debris from the campfire area and have a hand tool or eight litres of water nearby to extinguish the fire.
Category 2 open fires are burn piles which don’t exceed 2 metres in height and 3 metres in width and stubble, or grass burns over an area not exceeding 0.2 ha.
Category 3 open fires refer to the same kinds of piles of three or more concurrently, burning stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 ha, and one or more windrows not exceeding 200 metres in length or 15 metres in width.
Anyone found in violation of the prohibition may be issued a ticket of $1,150, pay an administrative penalty of up to $10,000, or, if convicted in court, fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to a year in jail.
