Effective at 1 p.m. Mountain Time on Thursday, May 21, Category 3 open fire will be prohibited throughout the Southeast Fire Centre, including the Rocky Mountain Natural Resource District and the Selkirk Natural Resource District. This prohibition is being enacted to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety.

This prohibition will remain in place until 1 p.m. October 31, 2026, or until the order is rescinded.

This prohibition does not include Category 1 campfire or Category 2 open fire.

Category 3 open fires are:

• Material concurrently in three or more piles, each not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width;
• Material in one or more piles, each exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width;
• One or more windrows each not exceeding 200 metres in length or 15 metres in width;
• Stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 hectares.

In addition to Category 3 open fires, the following equipment and activities will also be prohibited: Air curtain burners and Carbonizers.

This prohibition applies to all areas in the Southeast Fire Centre that are outside of municipal boundaries. In addition, this prohibition applies to the following types of land within municipal boundaries:

• Parks, conservancies and recreation areas (Park Act);
• Recreation sites, recreation trails, interpretive forest sites and trail-based recreation areas (Forest and Range Practices Act);
• Ecological reserves (Ecological Reserve Act);
• Wildlife management areas (Wildlife Act);
• Private managed forest land (Private Managed Forest Land Act).

Municipalities often follow BC Wildfire Service prohibitions or may impose different prohibitions based on conditions in their local area. If you are in a municipality, be sure to check if local prohibitions are in place. If you are within a regional district or improvement district, this prohibition applies as well as any local prohibition issued by the regional district or improvement district. BC Parks follows BC Wildfire Service prohibitions.

You can find more information on prohibitions and restrictions within the Southeast Fire Centre here.

While this prohibition does not include Category 1 campfires or Category 2 open fires, it is important to continue exercising caution when doing burning of any kind. Further information on the different types of open fires and safer burning can be found online.

The Southeast Fire Centre is asking anyone who conducted a Category 3 pile burn over the fall or winter to check their burn site(s) and ensure they are fully extinguished. 

Offences and fines

Anyone found in contravention of an open fire prohibition may be issued a ticket for $1,150, required to pay an administrative penalty of $10,000, or, if convicted in court, fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced for up to one year in jail.

If your fire causes or contributes to a wildfire, you may be fined up to $1 million and/or sentenced to up to three years in jail, as well as be responsible for all firefighting and associated costs. More information about the Wildfire Act and Regulation is available online.

Report a wildfire

The Southeast Fire Centre would like to thank the public for its continuing help in preventing wildfires.

Report a wildfire, unattended campfire, or open burning violation by:

Dialing *5555 on a cell phone;

Calling 1 800 663-5555 toll-free;

Reporting through the BC Wildfire App Report a fire function.

Reporting through the app lets you upload images and can be used without service.

Lead image: A map indicating the areas affected by this prohibition.  BC Wildfire Service

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