As of Thursday, July 17th at noon, a complete fire ban will be in effect.  This will include campfires.

In addition to this prohibition, the Coastal Fire Centre will maintain the current Category 2 and Category 3 open fire prohibitions.  For areas covered by the campfire prohibition, the list of Section 12 restricted activities and equipment will expand to include:

• Sky Lanterns
• Wood fired hot tubs, wood fired pizza ovens and other wood fired devices unless vented through a structure that has a flue and is incorporated in a building.
• Binary exploding targets
• Fireworks, as defined in the Fireworks Act of BC
• Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description
• Air Curtain Burners
• Carbonizers
• Controlled air incinerators

These prohibitions will apply to all stated areas in the Coastal Fire Centre that are outside of municipal boundaries.  In addition, these prohibitions apply to the following types of land within municipal boundaries:

• Parks, conservancies and recreation areas (Park Act)
• Recreation sites, recreation trails, interpretive forest sites and trail=based recreation areas (Forest and Range Practices Act)
• Ecological Reserves (Ecological Reserve Act)
• Wildlife management areas (Wildlife Act)
• Private managed forest land (Private Managed Forest Land Act)

Remember, you can still use approved outdoor stoves.  Click here to see what qualifies: 

Check out this great tool updated by the RDN.  It shows all the local fire departments with links to their websites, contact info, the venting index, burning bylaw, and bans:

Open burning - or burning outdoors - is allowed when the wildfire risk is low, however, there are important rules and regulations to follow for campfires to burn piles.  Before starting any fire on your property, check to see that it complies with our municipal bylaws and provincial regulations. 

REMEMBER:

• NO OUTDOOR FIRES ARE PERMITTED DURING A TOTAL FIRE BAN.
• BURNING OF NON-WOOD MATERIAL IS PROHIBITED.

We live in an area considered a "high smoke sensitivity zone" and any outdoor burning requires us to follow the Venting Index.  The Venting Index reflects the potential of the atmosphere to disperse smoke and other pollutants. The Ventilation Index ranges from 0 to 100, as summarized in this table: 

The Venting Index must register as "GOOD" (55-100) in order to burn.  "GOOD" means the smoke is more likely to disperse; "POOR" indicates that the pollution is more likely to hang or drop to lower elevations.   It is the combination of ventilation forecast and smoke sensitivity zone at your location that determines if you can burn and for how long.

An automated telephone service that provides information about the ventilation index can be reached by dialing 1-888-281-2992 (toll-free).  

Click on the link below to find out today's Venting Index, our area is listed as: CNTRL VAN ISLD

A permit is required when burning a pile larger than 10' x 10'. 

To obtain a Burn Registration Number in advance of your fire, call 1-888-797-1717 (toll-free).

Have a question about burning in the Bowser, Qualicum Bay, Spider Lake & Horne Lake area's? 

Call BOW HORN BAY FIRE DEPARTMENT on 250-757-9433.  We are here to help!