B.C. government lifts burn ban in coastal fire zone
Credit to Author: Tiffany Crawford| Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 16:19:54 +0000
Heavy rainfall and cooler temperatures on the South Coast over the last fews days have led the B.C. government to lift the open fire ban in the coastal fire zone.
Effective at noon Wednesday, all open fires will again be permitted given that the wildfire risk has been greatly reduced.
Category 2 open fires will be permitted, as well as the use of tiki torches, burn barrels, fireworks, sky lanterns and binary exploding targets. Campfire bans were not implemented this summer in this fire region.
Local governments may still have their own burning restrictions in place, so the government advises checking in with the municipality before lighting fires.
The Coastal Fire Centre covers all of the area west of 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.
re is fully extinguished and the ashes are cold to the touch before leaving the area for any length of time.
The Coastal Fire Centre covers all of 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.
There have been 785 wildfires in the province so far this year, burning up 21,144 hectares of land, according to the BC Wildfire Service.
This year’s wildfire season has been much less severe than last year, during which 2,117 wildfires scorched 1.3 million hectares.
B.C.’s worst wildfire seasons on record were in 2017 and 2018, with the province enacting a state of emergency two summers in a row. Scientists say the province can expect the wildfire risk to increase from climate change.
The government says the 10-year average from 2008 to 2017, is 1,666 wildfires, with 42.5 per cent caused by people and 57.3 per cent caused by lightning.
ticrawford@postmedia.com