Effective at 12:00 p.m. (noon) PDT on Friday, May 30, 2025, most open burning activities will be prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre’s jurisdiction, with exceptions for Haida Gwaii. This prohibition is being enacted to help reduce human-caused wildfires and for public safety.

Category 2 and Category 3 open fires will be prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre's jurisdiction. This prohibition will be in place until October 31, 2025, or until the order is rescinded.

This prohibition applies to all areas in the 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 (Wildlife Act); and
• Private managed forest land (Private Managed Forest Land Act).
• Specifically, this prohibition refers to the following activities.
• "Category 2 open fire" which means an open fire, other than a category 1 campfire, that:
• Burns material in one pile not exceeding 2 m in height and 3 m in width,
• Burns material concurrently in 2 piles each not exceeding 2 m in height and 3 m in width, or
• Burns stubble or grass over an area that does not exceed 0.2 ha.

"Category 3 open fire" which means an open fire that burns:

• Material concurrently in 3 or more piles each not exceeding 2 m in height and 3 m in width,
• Material in one or more piles each exceeding 2 m in height or 3 m in width,
• One or more windrows, each not exceeding 200 m in length or 15 m in width,
• Stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 ha.

Also prohibited are the activities listed below (Wildfire Act, Section 12):

• Fireworks; as defined in the Fireworks Act;
• Binary Exploding Targets;
• Burn Barrels or Burn Cages of any size or description;
• Controlled air incinerators
• Air curtain burners; and
• Carbonizers.

This prohibition does not apply to Category 1 (Campfires) that are a half-metre high by a half-metre wide or smaller, or to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes. Anyone lighting a campfire must maintain a fireguard by removing flammable debris from around the campfire area and have a hand tool or at least 8 litres of water available nearby to properly extinguish the fire.

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!