{"id":805730,"date":"2026-07-16T13:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T13:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/805730\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T13:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T13:42:13","slug":"campfire-ban-coming-to-b-c-s-south-coast-and-vancouver-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/805730\/","title":{"rendered":"Campfire ban coming to B.C.’s South Coast and Vancouver Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Listen to this article<\/p>\n

Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

With a period of dry, hot weather coming up, the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) has brought back a ban on campfires for most of the Coastal Fire Centre region.<\/p>\n

Effective at 12 p.m. PT Thursday, July 16, all Category 1 fires will be prohibited across the region<\/a>, with the exception of parts of the North Island and Sunshine Coast fire zones.<\/p>\n

The restrictions apply to all areas outside municipal boundaries, including most provincial parks and campgrounds, rec sites, and Crown land.<\/p>\n

Originally, campfires and other Category 1 fires were banned at the beginning of May \u2014 the earliest such prohibition since records began being tracked in 2003 \u2014 before it was rescinded just before the May long weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese decisions are not definitely not taken lightly, they take a lot of time, there’s a lot of factors,\u201d said Emily Fardad, a fire information officer with the BCWS, based out of Parksville.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWeather is so dynamic, and just as we’re seeing now with the changes in prohibitions, we are reevaluating every day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fardad says a wet June in the North Island Mid Coast Fire Zone means that area remains in the clear for now, with campfires still allowed. Campers in the Sunshine Coast fire zone will also be able to have campfires.<\/p>\n

The Coastal Fire Centre now joins the Kamloops Fire Centre as the two areas in the province with campfire restrictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"SteveErrington Fire Department Chief Steve Ternes says it was time for the ban to come back, after it was temporarily rescinded in May. (Claire Palmer\/CBC News)<\/p>\n

In the mid-Island area, the memories of last year’s wildfires have many on edge. <\/p>\n

Steve Ternes, fire chief with the Errington Fire Department, says he\u2019s never seen buy-in on a fire ban quite like he has this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople listen now. It never used to be that way. You always had a lot of pushback,\u201d said Ternes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always, always have the bigger fires on the mainland, and last year, finally you had smoke in the air. People were worried, and I think it just makes people more aware of what’s going on now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fardad says if you are in an area that allows fires \u2014 do so safely. Always have eight litres of water on hand, don\u2019t leave a fire unattended, and when you put out a fire, make sure it\u2019s completely cool to the touch before you walk away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The prohibition is expected to remain in place until Oct. 31, or until it is rescinded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":805731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-805730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}