It’s not even mid-March, but B.C. already has its first fire ban of the year.
The B.C. Wildfire Service announced a ban on fires in the Cariboo region effective noon Thursday, March 28, due to “an unseasonably dry fall and winter resulting in high drought conditions.”
The ban covers Category 2 and Category 3 fires, across the entire region, including the Cariboo Chilcontin Forest District, the 100 Mile House Forest District and the Quesnel Forest District.
A Category 2 fire is an open fire burning 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 metres by three metres, or burning an area of grass over an area greater than 0.2 hectares.
Fireworks and sky lanterns are also banned.
However, campfires, also known as Category 1 fires, are not banned at this time.
Anyone caught breaching the ban could face a $1,150 ticket or an administrative penalty up to $10,000. Breaches that result in a court conviction could result in a fine up to $100,000 or a year in jail.
The ban comes amid growing concern about a potentially difficult wildfire season, with drought conditions already present across most of the province.
Conditions across the Interior, with the exception of the Upper Columbia Basin, are currently at Drought Level 3 and above, with the province’s northeast already at Drought Level 5, the highest possible rating.
A warm and dry winter has also left the province’s mountains with an unusually low snowpack, further exacerbating concerns about a dry summer.
Across B.C., the snowpack is about 34 per cent below seasonal averages.