Fire Safety
Fire Danger Rating
HIGH
Tuesday July 9, 2024: EARLY SHIFT
Lasqueti Island has now been at high for three days. So it is now early shift. This means that high risk activities must stop by 1300, and be followed by a 2 hour fire watch.
Please use caution, and work responsibly.
Richard Carlson, Fire Chief.
Lasqueti Island Volunteer Fire Department
An explanation of high risk activities follow below.
High risk activities are defined in the Wildfire Regulation under "Definitions".
In the Wildfire Regulation, high risk activities mean each of the following:
(As per Wildfire Regulation consolidated April 2023.)
(a) mechanical brushing;
(b) disk trenching;
(c) preparation or use of explosives;
(d) using fire- or spark-producing tools, including cutting tools;
(e) using or preparing fireworks or pyrotechnics;
(f) grinding, including rail grinding;
(g) mechanical land clearing;
(h) clearing and maintaining rights of way, including grass mowing;
(i) any of the following activities carried out in a cutblock excluding a road, landing, roadside work area or log sort area in the cutblock:
(i) operating a power saw;
(ii) mechanical tree felling, woody debris piling or tree processing, including de-limbing;
(iii) welding;
(iv) portable wood chipping, milling, processing or manufacturing;
(v) skidding logs or log forwarding unless it is improbable that the skidding or forwarding will result in the equipment contacting rock;
(vi) yarding logs using cable systems;
Please follow the link below for more details.
CAMPFIRE BAN
Effective on Friday, July 12, 2024 at noon Pacific Daylight Time, campfires will be prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre, except for the Haida Gwaii Forest District. This prohibition is being enacted to help prevent human caused wildfires and protect public safety.
The ban applies to
* Category 1 campfires as defined in the Wildfire Regulation;
* Category 2 open fire as defined in the Wildfire Regulation; and,
* Category 3 open fire as defined in the Wildfire Regulation.
This prohibition will be in place until Thursday, October 31, 2024 at 12:00 noon Pacific Daylight Time, or until the order is rescinded.
In addition to campfires and open fires being prohibited, the following activities and equipment are also restricted:
* Fireworks;
* Sky Lanterns;
* Burn Barrels or Burn Cages of any size or description;
* Binary Exploding Targets;
* Air curtain burners;
* Tiki and similar kind of torches; and,
* Chimineas
This prohibition does not include the use of outdoor stoves. As per the Wildfire Regulation, an outdoor stove is a CSA-rated or ULC-rated device used outdoors for cooking, heat or ambiance that burns charcoal briquettes, liquid fuel or gaseous fuel, and has a flame height that is less than 15 cm tall.
Anyone who lights, fuels or uses an open fire when a fire prohibition is in place or fails to comply with an open fire prohibition may be issued a ticket for $1,150 or, if convicted in court, be fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail. If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be subject to a penalty of up to $100,000 and ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs.
What the danger class ratings mean
Low: Fires may start easily and spread quickly but there will be minimal involvement of deeper fuel layers or larger fuels.
Moderate: Forest fuels are drying and there is an increased risk of surface fires starting. Carry out any forest activities with caution.
High: Forest fuels are very dry and the fire risk is serious. New fires may start easily, burn vigorously, and challenge fire suppression efforts. Extreme caution must be used in any forest activities. Open burning and industrial activities may be restricted.
Extreme: Extremely dry forest fuels and the fire risk is very serious. New fires will start easily, spread rapidly, and challenge fire suppression efforts. General forest activities may be restricted, including open burning, industrial activities and campfires.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/wildfire-situation/fire-danger
The full details can be seen here
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/prevention/for-industry-commercial-operators/high-risk-activities
Denman fire has a good, plain language explanation.
https://denmanfire.ca/outdoor-burning/fire-hazard-rating-explained/
