Prince George Fire Centre to ban open burning near Fort Nelson, Fort St. John and Dawson Creek

This article has been updated to include a corrected version of the map above, issued by the Prince George Fire Centre.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — With wildfire season well underway, the Prince George Fire Centre is taking steps to prevent forest fires before they happen by imposing open burning restrictions.

Beginning on Friday, May 16th, category two and three open burns are prohibited in “all areas of the Fort Nelson and Peace forest districts (Dawson Creek, Fort St. John and Fort Nelson zones) that are outside municipal boundaries.”

The prohibition will also be enforced on several types of Crown land within municipal boundaries, including parks, recreation sites, ecological reserves, wildlife management areas and private-managed forest land.

Category two fires are burns that include one to two piles of material, with a combined size of two metres in height and three metres in width. Grass burns in areas smaller than 0.2 hectares also qualify as category two fires.

Category three fires, meanwhile, are blazes that feature three or more burning piles at once, one pile larger than two metres tall and three metres wide, or grass burns in areas greater than 0.2 hectares.

Windrows – long rows of cut hay or other small grain crops – being burned in lines shorter than 200 metres also qualify as category three.

Additionally, fireworks, sky lanterns, burn barrels and cages of any size, and binary exploding targets will also be prohibited.

However, campfires half a metre wide and tall will still be allowed, as will the use of cooking stoves that use gas, propane or charcoal briquettes.

Violating the ban could lead to tickets of up to $1,150, administrative penalties of up to $10,000, and even possible jail time.

The prohibition will be in effect until October 15th, unless it’s rescinded early.

The restrictions come after a wave of wildfires in early May, particularly in the Fort Nelson zone. Most of these are holdover wildfires from 2023 or 2024 that have since reignited.