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Fires during ban could lead to big fines, campers warned

Sitting around a campfire during a burning ban can carry a heftier price than many people realize.
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A campfire ban is in place across most of B.C.

Sitting around a campfire during a burning ban can carry a heftier price than many people realize.

The ticket for “lighting, fuelling or use of a fire against regulations” is $1,150 — and can be applied to everyone in a campfire’s vicinity, said the Coastal Fire Centre’s Donna MacPherson.

“The way the legislation is written, it’s whoever is using the campfire,” she said. “So if you’re got five people sitting around it, they can all get tickets. If you’ve got 10 people sitting around it, they can all get tickets.”

It’s hoped that the prospect of several individual fines will deter people from lighting a campfire, MacPherson said. “It can represent a considerable impact on somebody’s weekend.”

A campfire ban is in place for the entire province. The only areas not covered by the campfire ban are Haida Gwaii and a narrow strip along the Island’s north and west coasts known as the “fog zone.”

Despite that, the fire centre has received a string of complaints about illegal campfires — including 50 between July 15 and 17, MacPherson said.

She said there could be a heightened concern about reporting scofflaws because of the huge wildfire issue in the B.C. Interior.

More than 3,600 square kilometres of land have been scorched by fires since April 1. There were 161 active wildfires in the province as of Saturday evening, 14 of which started on Friday.

Since April 1, the fire centre — comprised of Vancouver Island, part of the southeast mainland and Haida Gwaii — has had 59 wildfires. All but three have been human-caused.

MacPherson said the campfire complaints have prompted stepped-up patrols by the Ministry of Forests’ compliance and enforcement branch and the B.C. Conservation Officer Service. RCMP officers can also issue tickets.

Patrols are made around locations where campfires have been seen, she said. “So, basically, the public is telling us where the problem areas are.”

The fire centre has limited choices if the campfire ban continues to be disregarded, MacPherson said.

“If people continue to break the prohibition that’s in place, the only alternatives are to fine people heavily — and we do have people out doing that — and to start closing recreation sites,” she said. “So we need people to comply or they’re going to have less access to places that they’d like to go.”

Despite some recent rain, the risk of fire remains high, MacPherson said.

“We did have a little bit of relief from the weather, but we’re expecting that we’re going to go back to hot and dry,” she said.

“Our big concern is that the fire-danger ratings are high, and some places they’re extreme on the Island.”

jwbell@timescolonist.com

— With a file from The Canadian Press