Campfires banned on B.C.'s South and Central Coast

Campfires will be banned for most of B.C.'s South and Central Coast as of noon Wednesday, August 17, with rising temperatures and no rain in sight, the B.C. Wildfire Service announced today.

The ban covers all of the Coastal Fire Centre, except for Haida Gwaii and a two-kilometre strip on the west coast of Vancouver Island known as the "Fog Zone."

• All fire bans in B.C.

The ban is needed "due to increasing temperatures and because there is no precipitation currently forecastfor the region," the wildfire service said in a statement.

Campfires are defined as any fire smaller than 0.5 metres high by 0.5 metres wide whichmust have a fire guard such as a ring of rocks around it.

Open fires, fireworks, tiki torches and other types of burning are already banned in the Coastal Fire Centre, including Haida Gwaii but not the Fog Zone.

The prohibitions do not apply to approved cooking stoves with flames less than 15 centimetres.

The rules will be in place until October 21 or until further notice, the wildfire service said.

Fines for violations start at $1,150, and can range much higher or include jail time if convicted in court.

If a banned fire starts a wildfire, the person who started it can be ordered to pay all firefighting costs.