A Category 2 and 3 Fire Prohibition is planned throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre.
Fire Information Officer Madison Dahl said effective noon on Thursday March 28, this prohibition will go into effect in the Cariboo Chilcotin Forest District, the 100 Mile House Forest District, and the Quesnel Forest District.
“This prohibition does not ban campfires that are a half-metre high by a half-metre wide or smaller, and does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes.” Dahl said, “A Category 2 fire is an open fire that burns material in one or two piles, each no larger than two metres in height and three metres in width, or burning grass over an area less than 0.2 hectares. A Category 3 fire is an open fire larger than two metres by three metres, burning three or more piles smaller than two by three metres, or burning an area of grass or stubble over an area greater than 0.2 metres.”
BC Wildfire Service said anyone conducting a Category 2 or 3 open fire anywhere in the Cariboo region must extinguish any such fire by noon March 28 and this prohibition will remain in place until noon November 1 2024 or until the Order is rescinded.
“We are all aware that we had a very unseasonably dry and warm winter compounded with a really dry Fall,” Dahl said, “we’re experiencing record drought conditions and we do have concerns that some of the big industry slash that are burning may result in holdover fires, so we’re looking at the longer range forecast and the Spring conditions and taking those considerations a number of factors. We want to allow industry partners time to extinguish those slash piles and make sure that all burning is extinguished before March 28.”