Effective at 1 p.m. Mountain Time on Friday, July 11, Category 2 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.

Anyone conducting a Category 2 open fire within the Southeast Fire Centre’s jurisdiction must extinguish those fires by the 1 p.m. Mtn. July 11, 2025, deadline.

This prohibition will remain in place until 1 p.m. Mtn. Time October 30, or until the order is rescinded.

This prohibition does not include Category 1 campfire.

A Category 2 open fire is a fire that burns:

• Material in one pile not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width;
• Material concurrently in two piles each not exceeding two metres in height and three metres in width;
• Stubble or grass over an area that does not exceed 0.2 hectares.

Also prohibited is the equipment and activities listed below (Wildfire Act, Section 12):

• Air curtain burners;
• Carbonizers;
• Fireworks, as defined in the Fireworks Act;
• Binary exploding targets;
• Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description;
• Controlled air incinerators.

Reminder that Category 3 open fires have been prohibited throughout the Southeast Fire Centre since Friday, May 30.

A Category 3 open fire is a fire that burns:

– 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 o grass over an area exceeding 0.2 hectares.

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).

This prohibition also applies to all lands in the Villages of Slocan and Silverton municipalities.

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.

Further information on the different types of open fires and safer burning is available online.

 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 3 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.

To report a wildfire, unattended campfire, or open burning violation, dial *5555 on a cell phone or call 1-800-663-5555 toll-free. You can also report a wildfire using 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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