Due to the extreme fire conditions in and around Williams Lake, all backyard campfires within the city’s boundaries are being prohibited as of Friday, July 7 until further note.
Anyone found to have a backyard fire will be subject to fines under the Williams Lake Fire Protection and Control Bylaw,, the city said in a notice issued Friday morning.
The Cariboo Fire Centre (CFC), also imposed a complete campfire ban Friday at noon.
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The Cariboo Fire Centre is also reminding the public to remain vigilant in preventing wildfires.
“We have extreme fire danger ratings for the western and southern portions of our region and high fire danger ratings for the areas along the north and east,” said Natasha Broznitsky, CFC fire information officer Thursday.
A campfire ban has been in effect west of the Fraser River since Thursday, June 29, and includes a ban on the use of tiki torches and chimineas. Broznitsky said the fire centre will do a reassessment on Friday, July 7, to see if action should be taken to further the campfire ban into other areas of the region.
Throughout the entire region, Category two and Category three open burns are already prohibited and include the burning of any waste, slash or other materials, stubble or grass fires of any size over any area, the use of fireworks, the use of sky lanterns, burning barrels or burning cages of any size or description and the use of binary exploding targets.
During the July long weekend crews responded to four small fires in the CFC, Broznitsky said, noting one was caused by lightning and three were human-caused.
“The largest was 0.2 hectares in size. This fire, located near Pressy Lake, is the only fire that is still active. As of July 4, it is classified as ‘Being Held.’”
Thursday afternoon a wildfire started near 100 Mile House, which has now grown to more than 1,200 hectares forcing the Cariboo Regional District to put in an evacuation order of 33 properties and put another 1,800 homes on evacuation alert by the Cariboo Regional District.