With the recent warm and sunny weather, the B.C. Wildfire Service says the fire danger rating in the Cedar area is high.
Donna MacPherson, Coastal Fire Centre fire information officer, said while there aren't currently any bans in place, the forest and fields are dry and people are asked to be cautious.
“The precipitation that we've had [recently] didn't reach very far south on Vancouver Island, not much past Nanaimo, so that area is drying,” said MacPherson. “We're going into a period of sunny, warm days ... it may continue to dry as we have the nice weather.”
MacPherson said people should check local government bylaws if they're considering burning. Remove anything that could serve as fuel for a fire, she said.
Good morning North OysterThe Fire Danger today is High, and is not expected to drop anytime in the near future.... https://t.co/4kQENWCCGB
— NOVFD (@NOVFD_911) May 5, 2016
“This is a great time to 'FireSmart' their property ... cleaning up their yard is a smart thing to do at this time of year [and] burn very safely, especially to watch out for winds. It's often pretty windy on the coast in the spring,” said MacPherson.
Brad Wood, Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant fire chief of operations, said people should use common sense.
“Watch your smoking materials and such and I always recommend for homeowners and such to look at [www.firesmartcanada.ca] and that shows a bunch of fairly simple ideas how someone can 'FireSmart' around their home to help prevent the spread of wildfire, in case we have an incident,” Wood said.
MacPherson said the fire danger rating for Nanaimo is moderate and there are no wildfires reported in the area, as of Friday morning.