Campfire Ban begins at noon on Thursday, July 23

Also prohibited is the equipment and activities listed below (Wildfire Act, Section 12):

• Air curtain burners
• Carbonizers
• Fireworks as defined in the Fireworks Act of BC
• Binary exploding targets
• Burn barrels or burn cages or any size or description
• Controlled air incinerators
• 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

This prohibition does not include the use of outdoor stoves. As per the Wildfire Regulation, an outdoor stove is a CSA-rated or ULC-rated device used outdoors for cooking, heat or ambiance that burns charcoal briquettes, liquid fuel or gaseous fuel and has a flame height that is less than 15 cm tall. More information about outdoor stoves can be found on our Open fire and safer burning webpage.

A map indicating the areas affected by this prohibition is available online and below:

Reminder that Category 2 open fire have been prohibited since July 10, 2026, and Category 3 open fire have been prohibited since May 21, 2026.

A Category 2 open fire refers to any fire that burns:

1. Burns material in one pile not exceeding 2m in height and 3m in width
2. Burns material concurrently in 2 piles, each not exceeding 2m in height and 3m in width
3. Burns stubble or grass over an area that does not exceed 0.2 hectares

Category 3 open fire refers to any fire that burns:

1. Material concurrently in 3 ore more piles, each not exceeding 2 metres in height and 3 metres in width
2. Material in one or more piles, each exceeding 2 metres in height or 3 metres in width
3. One ore more windrows, each not exceeding 200 metres in length or 15 metres in width
4. Stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 hectares

You can find the PDF poster for Category 1 campfire here, Category 2 open fire here and Category 3 open fire here.

This prohibition applies to all areas in the Southeast Fire Centre that are outside of municipal boundaries. In addition, this prohibition applies 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 (Wildfire Act)
• Private managed forest land (Private Managed Forest Land Act)

This prohibition also applies to all lands in the Villages of Slocan and Silverton municipalities.

Municipalities often follow BC Wildfire Service prohibitions or may impose different prohibitions based on conditions in their local area. If you are in a municipality, be sure to check if local prohibitions are in place. If you are within a regional district or improvement district, this prohibition applies as well as any local prohibition issued by the regional district or improvement district. BC Parks follows BC Wildfire Service prohibitions.

Camping is a long-standing tradition in this province. The B.C. government recognizes that people also enjoy having campfires, so it takes any decision to implement a campfire prohibition very seriously. Wildfire prevention is a shared responsibility. Human-caused wildfires are completely preventable and divert critical resources away from lightning-caused wildfires.

More information on the different types of open burning is available online here.

Information about the Fire Weather Index System can be found here.