Open burning ban lifted as cool, wet weather quenches northern half of B.C.

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. – Soggy conditions across north-central British Columbia have allowed the Ministry of Forests to immediately scrap bans on open burning in the Prince George and northwest fire centres.

They are the first of B.C.’s six fire centres to fully rescind open burning bans, although restrictions were lifted earlier this month in several zones of the Northwest Fire Centre.

Bans on campfires were removed last month in the Northwest and Prince George centres.

Campfires have also been allowed, with restrictions, along parts of the western edge of the Coastal centre and in the Cariboo centre east of the Fraser River, but remain banned west of the river.

In early July, the province took the unusual step of banning all burning in B.C. woodlands.

But rain and cooler weather, especially across northern B.C., have eased some of those restrictions, though drought conditions persist across most of southern B.C.