In coordination with the Kamloops Fire Centre, the Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) is advising residents and visitors that Class A and B open fires will be prohibited for all RDNO Electoral Areas beginning Thursday, May 7, at 12:00 pm. This ban will remain in place until October 19, or until rescinded.
This open fire prohibition is to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety. Anyone conducting Class A and B open fires within RDNO Electoral Areas must extinguish those fires by May 7 at noon.
Class A Open Burning refers to open burning of debris piles with a diameter larger than three (3) meters but less than 10 meters, resulting from land cleared or partially cleared of vegetation to help prepare the land for a non-farming use (e.g. farmland to residential, forest land to residential, forest land to open area, or rural lands to subdivisions, etc.).
Class B Open Burning refers to open burning of debris piles equal to or less than three (3) meters in diameter and two meters in height that do not result from land cleared or partially cleared of vegetation to help prepare the land for a different use.
In addition to Class A and B open fires being prohibited, the following activities and equipment are also restricted:
- Air curtain burners
- Carbonizers
- Binary exploding targets
- Fireworks, as defined in the Fireworks Act of BC
- Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description, except when used for a Category 1 campfire as defined in the Wildfire Regulation
- Controlled air incinerators
This prohibition does not apply to small, confined campfires (no larger than 0.5 meters high by 0.5 meters wide), or to cooking stoves that use gas, propane, or briquettes.
The RDNO would like to thank the public for its continued help in preventing wildfires. To report a wildfire, unattended campfire, or open burning violation, please use the reporting function in the BC Wildfire Service mobile app or call 1-800-663-5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cell phone.
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For media inquiries:
Stacey Raftus, Communications Officer
communications@rdno.ca