The B.C. government will impose a province-wide ban on campfires and fireworks, starting noon Wednesday, as a heat wave blanketing B.C. threatens to dry out forests and turn them to tinder.
"The provincial weather forecast calls for record-breaking high temperatures throughout B.C. this week and follows a spring of lower-than-average precipitation in the southern half of the province," the B.C. government says in a press release. "These conditions are expected to persist in the coming weeks."
The ban will be in effect until October 15, unless the order is otherwise varied. The ban will go into effect the day before many British Columbians are likely to be headed out to cottages and campgrounds for an extended long weekend, starting on July 1, Canada Day.
The government defines a campfire as any fire that is smaller than 0.5 metres high by 0.5 metres wide.
Violating the ban could net fines of $1,150. Penalties are even higher for those who cause a forest fire. The highest sentence for those who start a wildfire is up to $100,000 and-or one year in jail.
Last summer, B.C. managed to escape the kind of massive wildfires that scorched parts of the province in 2018 and 2019. But with summer starting with a record-breaking heat wave, the risk of a bad forest fire season has just gone up.
