North Cedar Fire Department has prohibited campfires in the North Cedar fire protection area, south of Nanaimo, and a campfire ban will take effect for the entire B.C. coast before the end of the week.
The campfire ban was put in place Sunday, June 4, due to increasingly dry conditions in the region.
“It’s significant for us because our area is very dry anyway,” said Percy Tipping, North Cedar Fire Department chief.
Tipping said the corridor along the waterfront out to Yellow Point tends to dry out earlier than other areas, such as along the Nanaimo River, which runs through Cedar.
“But beyond that, with all the fires going on in this province and other provinces, it’s cause for heightened awareness, for sure.”
Tipping said there were a number of bush fires in the area early in the year, but bush fire activity has been quiet, so far.
Firefighters with the City of Nanaimo, on the other hand, have battled numerous bush fires in parks and undeveloped areas in recent weeks. According to Nanaimo Fire Rescue’s published list of incidents, firefighters in the city responded to 14 bush fires between Friday, June 2, and Monday afternoon, June 5, at the time of reporting.
Ron Gueulette, Cranberry Volunteer Fire Department chief, said his area of coverage doesn’t have a bylaw to ban campfires – that falls under the jurisdiction of the B.C. Ministry of Forests and B.C. Wildfire Service, but there have been a number of small fires.
Gueulette said a fifth-wheel trailer burned near McKay Lake at end of Spruston Road, also south of Nanaimo, late Sunday, June 4. The structure was completely destroyed and caught nearby trees in the wooded area on fire. Firefighters knocked down the blaze and prevented it from spreading into the surrounding forest and were on scene until about 2:30 a.m. Monday morning. The fifth-wheel was completely destroyed, but no one was injured.
“It’s still smouldering a little bit,” Gueulette said on Monday afternoon. “I was just talking with forestry this morning and they’re just sending a crew up to keep an eye on it for a bit.”
According to Gueulette, Ladysmith RCMP are investigating the incident.
B.C. Wildfire Service Coastal Fire Centre issued a statement Monday, June 5, that campfires will be prohibited and all open fires will be banned as part of a Category 1 fire ban that comes into effect noon Thursday, June 8.
Category 1 fire bans include campfires, sky lanterns, burn barrels and burn cages of all sizes and descriptions, binary exploding targets, air curtain burners, chimineas and tiki and similar kinds of torches.
According to a press release dated Wednesday, June 7, City of Nanaimo is following suit, issuing a full ban on open fires as well.
READ MORE: Firefighters battling house fire on Nanaimo’s Meredith Road
chris.bush@nanaimobulletin.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter