Effective at 5 p.m. Monday July 10, 2017 all open burning, including campfires, will be prohibited throughout the City of Terrace boundaries with the exception of Ferry Island Campground.
Ferry Island is exempt because the fire department and the city’s leisure services department put together a fire safety plan to mitigate risks, said Brian Doddridge, officer, communications and business development for the City of Terrace.
“Having the plan in place, it was decided that the fire department could manage this minimal risk and therefore Ferry Island was exempt from the campfire ban,” said Doddridge.
The open burning prohibition will remain in effect until Oct. 21, 2017, or until the public is otherwise notified.
It is being implemented due to current weather conditions and the volume of fires to which the BC Wildfire Service is responding.
More lightning is in the forecast and firefighting resources must focus on existing fires and new, naturally occurring fires.
The following activities are prohibited:
• Campfires
• Category 2 open fires
• Category 3 open fires
• The burning of any waste, slash or other materials
• The use of stoves and other portable campfire apparatuses that are not CSA-approved or ULC-approved
• Fires burning woody debris in outdoor stoves
• The use of tiki torches, fireworks, firecrackers, sky lanterns, burning barrels or burning cages of any size or description
• The use of binary exploding targets (e.g. for rifle target practice)
This prohibition does not apply to CSA-rated or ULC-rated cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes, or to a portable campfire apparatus that uses briquettes, liquid or gaseous fuel, so long as the height of the flame is less than 15 centimetres.
If you see an unattended campfire with-in the City of Terrace limits, call 9-1-1 and report the fire.
Please report wildfires by calling *5555 or 1-800-663-5555.
For further info, please call your local Fire Department at 250-638-4734 or visit BC Wildfire Service at: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status
The original version of this story did not give a reason for why Ferry Island was exempt from the burning prohibition.