Campfires will be against the law in most of the province effective Thursday at noon.
Anyone found in contravention may be issued a ticket carrying a $1,150 fine and may be required to pay an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 or, if convicted in court, may be fined up to $100,000 and sentenced to one year in jail, the B.C. Wildfire Service said in statements issued Tuesday announcing the measure.
If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs, BCWS also warns.
Outdoor stoves with a flame height of less than 15 centimetres and used for cooking, heat or ambiance will remain excluded from the ban.
But the ban will also cover fireworks, sky lanterns, burn barrels or burn cages of any size, binary exploding targets, air curtain burners, chimineas and tiki torches and similar kings of torches.
The fire danger rating ranges from high to extreme for most of the province and forecasters are also predicting a particularly dry month for much of the Interior.
The measure will come into effect for the entire Prince George, Cariboo and Kamloops fire centres and for the Coastal fire zone with the exception of Haida Gwaii as well as for the Nadina fire zone surrounding Burns Lake in the Northwest fire centre.
Only the Southeast fire centre will remain entirely unaffected although bans on larger categories of open burning are in effect for that region as well as for the Northwest fire centre. Bans on larger types of open burning have been in place since early to mid May for most of the province.
Unless rescinded before then, the bans are to remain in place until October 15.
