Image: B.C. Wildfire Service / all campfires will be banned throughout the Coastal Fire Centre covering Chilliwack and the surrounding Fraser Valley, Hope, Manning Park, Fraser Canyon, and forest service roads north of Agassiz, effective this Friday, July 12 at noon.

By Fraser Valley Today Staff

Campfire ban

Province bans all campfires in Chilliwack, Fraser Valley, and surrounding backcountry

Jul 10, 2024 | 2:22 PM

CHILLIWACK — The province isn’t taking any chances with campfires, especially after the number of active wildfires in British Columbia jumped by more than two dozen to about 130 amid a heat wave this week, creating prime conditions for fire.

According to a statement from B.C. Wildfire Service, all campfires will be banned throughout the Coastal Fire Centre covering Chilliwack and the surrounding Fraser Valley, Hope, Manning Park, Fraser Canyon, and forest service roads north of Agassiz, effective this Friday, July 12 at noon.

BCWS says this prohibition is being implemented to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety.

These prohibitions apply to all public and private land within the Coastal Fire Centre jurisdiction, unless specified otherwise in an enactment (e.g., in a local government bylaw).

This prohibition will be in place until Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, or until the order is rescinded.

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In addition to campfires and open fires being prohibited, the following activities and equipment are also restricted:

• Fireworks;
• Sky Lanterns;
• Burn Barrels or Burn Cages of any size or description;
• Binary Exploding Targets;
• Air curtain burners;
• Tiki and similar kind of torches; and,
• Chimineas

This prohibition does not include the use of outdoor stoves. As per the wildfire regulation, an outdoor stove is a CSA-rated or ULC-rated device used outdoors for cooking, heat or ambiance that burns charcoal briquettes, liquid fuel or gaseous fuel, and has a flame height that is less than 15 cm tall.

To learn more about the different categories of open burning, visit the Open Burning webpage.

Anyone who lights, fuels or uses an open fire when a fire prohibition is in place or fails to comply with an open fire prohibition may be issued a ticket for $1,150 or, if convicted in court, be fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail. If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be subject to a penalty of up to $100,000 and ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs.

The Coastal Fire Centre covers all the area west of the height of land on the Coast Mountain Range from the U.S.-Canada border at Manning Park, including Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park in the north, the Sunshine Coast, the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Haida Gwaii.

To report a wildfire, call 1 800 663-5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cell phone. For the latest information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air quality advisories, go to: http://www.bcwildfire.ca