Two weeks from now, agriculture burning season will come to an end in the Okanagan.
Between then and now, the City of Kelowna hopes it won’t see more scofflaws burning items that they’re not supposed to.
On Tuesday, the city said the fire department has experienced several calls where the applicant has purchased a permit to burn prunings but was instead conducting land clearing.
Notably, burning season runs from Oct. 30 to April 30. Further, burning is only allowed on days when there’s good venting.
“An applicant can obtain a permit to burn prunings or a land-clearing permit from the fire department prior to any burning,” said the city.
“The prunings permit is issued for a fee and allows the applicant to burn only prunings. The land-clearing permit permits the removal of trees for the purpose of switching their crop, fuel mitigation, disposing of diseased trees or expanding the agricultural area into a forested area.”
The city says trees cannot be burned for development purposes. And trees that can be burned must either sit for two years, be incinerated in a trench or be chipped.
The city says those caught illegally burning were issued bylaw offence tickets, and were banned for burning for a predetermined amount of time.
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“The fire department has also attended three fires this year where permit holders were burning treated fence posts and garbage,” said the city.
“The fire department attended a fire last week in southeast Kelowna where an orchard that had a prunings permit was burning several yards of construction material. The burn permit has since been revoked.”
The city said the fire department and B.C.’s Conservation Officer Service (COS) are jointly investigating the incident.
“This week, tickets were issued following three separate burn permit infractions. Each ticket was for $345,” said the city.
“The fire department has contacted the BC Fruit Growers Association to remind its members that they must adhere to the permit conditions. Otherwise, their burn privileges will be revoked.”
Within Kelowna, open burning requires a permit, albeit for agricultural purposes only. The city says woodburning backyard fire pits are prohibited, though propane and charcoal briquettes are OK.
“Every year, the COS receives open-burning complaints in locations across B.C. With spring upon us, we will likely receive more,” said Kelowna conservation officer Ken Owens.
“We encourage all residents and businesses to familiarize themselves with the rules and ensure they are taking the necessary steps to protect the public and environment.”