The Coastal Fire Centre is the envy of the rest of the province, as it has been a very quiet fire season.
There have been no campfire bans this fire season and no prohibitions are in place.
Fire Information Officer Marg Drysdale said the coastal zone doesn’t declare an official end to the fire season, but it has been quiet for a while.
“We have the bulk of our work in July and August, we continue to have fires right into September and October, but we don’t really have an end date,” said Drysdale. “We could get a fire that we respond to in February.”
“We’ve definitely had a downturn in the middle of September,” said Drysdale.
Only 158 fires have burned this season, however, Drysdale calls the 105 human-caused fires a disappointment.
There are no category three prohibitions, but anyone burning these fires needs to have the means to extinguish them.
“People will see some burning going on this time of year, but we always caution people to be responsible for what they light, they have to have the means to put out whatever they light, no matter the size,” said Drysdale.
She added, “Those who have a category three fire, which is the piles, are required to have a registration number and the equipment on-site to put those fires out, should they be a problem.”
To get a burn registration number call 1-888-797-1717.
Municipal fire prohibitions and burning bylaws take precedence over BC Wildfire regulations.
Those 158 fires in the coastal region burned only 322 hectares.
