Campfires will be prohibited as of Monday, Sept. 8 at noon, the Prince George Fire Centre announced Friday.
This applies to Category 1 fires, described as a small open fire no larger than 0.5 meters high by 0.5 meters wide, usually used for camping and recreation.
It affects the entire Prince George Fire Centre, which includes the City of Prince George and surrounding areas, including popular recreation sites and parks.
Category 2 and Category 3 fires are already prohibited. These include:
- Fireworks
- Sky lanterns
- Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description
- Binary exploding targets
- Air curtain burners
- Chimineas
- Tiki and similar kinds of torches
- Outdoor stoves or other portable campfire apparatus without a CSA or ULC rating
The campfire ban will be in effect until noon on Friday, Oct. 17, or until it is rescinded. It applies to all public and private lands.
The prohibition does not include the use of outdoor stoves. As outlined in the Wildfire Regulation, an outdoor stove is a CSA-rated or ULC-rated rated device used outdoors for cooking, heat or ambiance, that burns charcoal briquettes, liquid fuel or gaseous fuel, and has a flame height less than 15 centimeters.
Anyone found in contravention of the ban may be issued a ticket for $1,150, 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/or sentenced to one year in jail.
If a banned fire causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs.
