Do-it-yourself fireworks this July 1 could be expensive

Before lighting that illegal fireworks display for Canada Day, just visualize lighting a $1,000 bill on fire instead.

That’s because, along with the ban on campfires throughout B.C. starting at noon tomorrow, June 30, there’s also a province-wide ban on fireworks.

Getting caught shooting off fireworks can trigger a fine of $1,150. Penalties escalate if fire crews respond to a complaint or to an actual fire. In the very likely event that fireworks started a forest fire in the tinder dry forests in the middle of a heat wave, that bill could be huge.

READ MORE: Cache Creek man fined $500,000 for starting 2012 wildfire

With most municipalities in the Thompson and Okanagan regions cancelling Canada Day celebrations, along with the fireworks displays that usually accompany those celebrations, people may be tempted to set off their own.

READ MORE: Campfires banned in B.C. until mid-October

Not that shooting off fireworks is legal anyways in many Thompson and Okanagan jurisdictions at the best of times. Most require permits, waivers and insurance before the displays can light up the night sky.

Those rules generally do not cover firecrackers.

The City of Kamloops Fire Prevention Bylaw defines firecrackers as “a small firework or explosive device which has no or minimal pyrotechnic effect and which is primarily designed to produce an auditory blast, screech, whistle or other loud noise, and includes, but is not limited to, noise makers, bottle rockets, Screechers, Screecharoos, Humaroos, Supersonic Bang, Butterfly Thunder, air bombs, and items similarly named or in the same noise-producing category.”

Fireworks, which generally need a permit to be used, are defined as “any substance that is made, manufactured, or used to produce an explosion or detonation or a pyrotechnic device, and includes fireworks, composition, and manufactured fireworks as defined in the Federal Explosives Act, and also includes any substance defined as fireworks under the British Columbia Fireworks Act.”

Illegal use of fireworks, or campfires, can be reported online here or by calling 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on a cell phone.

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