With no relief in sight from the heat wave that’s cooking B.C., a First Nation says it has implemented an off-road ban to prevent backcountry wildfires.
The Lower Similkameen Indian Band says the ban, which targets motorized vehicles, came into effect on Wednesday at 4 p.m., and that it will remain in effect until further notice.
Those vehicles are now prohibited from driving on any LSIB road with growth or vegetation.
According to the band, the term motorized vehicles includes those powered by batteries.
“If the road is completely bare, then it can be used,” the First Nation said. “However, vehicles cannot leave the roadway at any time for any reason other than to enter onto another bare road.”
The province’s wildfire danger rating for the Similkameen is between high and extreme, the top two levels of its five-tier system.
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Further, the province’s drought portal ranks the Similkameen at drought level three out of five.
The LSIB also noted that horses aren’t immune from the ban, either.
“For all of those who are riding horses in the backcountry, please check to see that your horses are not shod with steel shoes,” it said.
“We are fully aware of how walking on hard, hot, rocky areas affects the hooves and frogs of the horses, mules, donkeys, and ponies, but one spark from those shoes can bring horrible consequences to us all.”
The band said LSIB guardians will be “fully engaged with effecting this band on LSIB territories.”