A B.C. woman is asking for a full province-wide ban on fires in the back-country.
Cambria Volonte started a petition to cut back on the number of human-caused fires this year and for the years to come.
Her petition, which was started on May 12, has over 2,000 signatures as of 10 a.m. May 27.
“It’s our right to protect our homes, families, livelihoods, forests, and environment around us,” she says on the petition website. “It is not even the middle of May and we have human-caused fires causing evacuations, devastating the land and polluting our air.”
Volonte is asking for an immediate ban on fires in the backcountry.
The BC Wildfire Service active fires map shows that as of Monday, May 27 there are 30 wildfires larger than 0.01 hectares burning in the province. Of those, 23 are suspected human-caused, which includes all causes related to human activity, including camping fires, fires caused by accidents, fires caused by logging equipment and anything else humans would have a hand in.
Currently, the largest fire of the season so far is burning 150 kilometres southeast of Fort Nelson at 650 hectares. The Fontas River fire is believed to have been started by lightning and is 40 per cent contained.
“Let’s protect our beautiful British Columbia and keep it green,” says Volonte in the petition description.
For more details or to sign the petition visit this link.
— Alanna Kelly, Castanet
