Moderate Fire Hazard Rating and Burn Ban reminder

Our local Fire Hazard Rating has been raised to moderate.

Reminder to all that all Category 2 & 3 Fires will be prohibited throughout BC effective Thursday, April 16 at noon.

The following is from the information bulletin put out by the BC Ministry of Forests etc regarding this burn ban:

"These open burning prohibitions will reduce demands on firefighting resources and help protect the health and safety of the public, as well as BC Wildfire Service staff. They will also help reduce the impact of wildfire smoke on air quality and public health during the COVID-19 pandemic. A strategic deployment of wildfire management resources is critical this fire season, so it is especially important to reduce the number of unnecessary, human-caused wildfires. It is vital BC Wildfire Service staff remain healthy to respond to wildfires throughout the 2020 season and ensure the BC Wildfire Service s response capability is not affected. During the current pandemic, larger open burns pose an unnecessary risk and could detract from wildfire detection and response capabilities. The open burning prohibitions coming into effect on April 16 should decrease the number of false alarms (where firefighters respond to a report of smoke, only to find the smoke is coming from a controlled burn and not from a wildfire). These open burning prohibitions also support the BC Centre for Disease Control s recommendation to help reduce excess air pollution in airsheds throughout the province."