Photo Courtesy: ID 88241699 © Apisit Wilaijit | Dreamstime.com

By Veronica Beltran

wildfire prohibitions

Category 2 open burning in Cariboo to be prohibited starting at end of July

Jul 29, 2020 | 5:00 AM

WILLIAMS LAKE–Starting at noon on July 31, Category 2 open burning, as well as other equipment and activities, will be prohibited throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre’s jurisdiction.

The prohibition in place by the BC Wildfire Service will remain in effect until noon on September 30 of this year, or until the public is notified otherwise. Anyone conducting Category 2 open fires within the Cariboo Fire Centre jurisdiction is required to extinguish any fire by noon on July 31.

Category 3 open fires will also remain prohibited until September 30, or until further notice. The prohibition does not apply to campfires that are a half-metre high by a half-metre wide and does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes.

Specifically prohibited activities will include:

• Category 2 open fires;
• Category 3 open fires;
• The use of fireworks, including firecrackers;and
• Sky Lanterns;
• Tiki Torches
• Air Curtain Burners;
• Binary Exploding Targets;
• Burn Barrels or Burn Cages of any size or description;

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The prohibitions apply to all public and private land within the Cariboo Fire Centre jurisdiction unless otherwise specified. A release by the BC Wildfire Service says that “any illegal fires will be investigated, and charges may be laid under the Wildfire Act or Wildfire Regulation, depending on the outcome of the investigation.”

For those who don’t play by the rules a $1,150 ticket may be handed out, they may be required to pay an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 or, if convicted in court, fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail. The Cariboo Fire Centre stretches from Loon Lake near Clinton in the south to the Cottonwood River near Quesnel in the north, and from Tweedsmuir Provincial Park in the west to Wells Gray Provincial Park in the east.