Campfire ban likely coming to B.C. coast this week, BCWS says

Campfire in Slovenia

Amid rising fire danger in coastal British Columbia, open burning prohibitions are expected to be implemented later this week.

Fire bans of some sort will come into effect on Thursday, B.C. Wildfire Service Information Officer Julia Caranci told CTV News, but the exact details are yet to be determined.

She says the prohibitions will “very likely” include all three categories of fire, which include campfires, backyard burning and industrial burning. Officials are set to decide where specific types of fire will be banned in the next couple of days.

Fire danger ratings were moderate-to-high across the Coastal Fire Centre Monday, save for a pocket of extreme fire danger north of the Sunshine Coast. There were eight active wildfires in the region, with one at Cultus Lake classified as out of control.

Caranci said a warming and drying trend on the South Coast is expected to continue and there’s no impactful precipitation in the forecast for the near future.

She said it has been an active wildfire season for the region so far, but noted it is not abnormal to have blazes in April and May.

“It’s not unprecedented. Probably we haven’t seen it in the last couple of years, so it feels like we haven’t had it before, but year to year we can always have different conditions,” Caranci said.

She added that how bad a wildfire season will get is dependent on how much rain we get in May and up until the end of June.

“So what’s happening now is not necessarily indicative of what we will see for the rest of the summer,” she said.

The vast majority of wildfires in the province so far this year have been caused by humans, according to the BCWS.

British Columbians are reminded to report wildfire sightings by calling 1-800-663-5555, dialling *5555 on a cell phone or using the BCWS app.