British Columbia’s Conservation Officer Service said it issued more than $20,000 in fines over the weekend for illegal campfires.
The service said in a social media post that officers conducted campfire-ban patrols across several regions of the province and issued 19 violation tickets, totalling $21,850 in fines.
“Claiming you didn’t know about the campfire ban is not an acceptable excuse,” the service said.
Campfire bans are in place across much of the southern and central Interior, the south coast and southern Vancouver Island.
The B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) said out of the 784 wildfires sparked across the province this wildfire season, close to half are believed to be human-caused.
As of Tuesday, there were 132 active wildfires in B.C.
The BCWS said warm, dry and windy conditions were expected this week across the province, with the possibility for new wildfires and increased fire behaviour in the coming days.
