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Throughout the summer months the most

common questions we answer start with ’Can I

have a …’ In fact, when the campfire prohibition

was enacted on August 1, until August 4, 2013,

we responded to this question over 150 times.

Although the question was ‘Can I have a

campfire’, the underlying question is often ‘Why

can’t I have a campfire’. After two weeks of a

campfire ban the question became ‘when can I

have a campfire, it rained’. Although we don’t

mind answering questions, after all that’s what

we’re here for, it’s hard to spend the time with

people to tell them all the reasons we put a ban in

place when we do, why we lift it when we do and

why, despite that rain coming down (sometimes

in buckets) we don’t lift a ban immediately. This

newsletter provides an opportunity to explain the

rationale behind some of the decisions made by

the Coastal Fire Centre when a ban is enacted.

Size and management. The Coastal

Fire Centre covers 12.8 million hectares,

with six zones, six microclimates, and

vastly different fuel types. Approximately 75% of

the province’s population resides within Coastal’s

jurisdictional boundary. This means that there is

a high potential for interface fires.

The Wildfire Management Branch encourages

local governments to consider enacting open fire

bylaws, as their areas of responsibility are

smaller, they are more able to identify areas of

localized weather events and public activity, and

can be more responsive to local concerns. In the

absence of a local bylaw, the Wildfire

Management Branch under the authority of the

Wildfire Act and Regulation, implements and

rescinds prohibitions based on the data it collects

from a larger area.

When lifting a ban or restriction, time also

comes into play as the fire centre confers with

local zones as to the advisability of lifting a ban,

then speaks with those ministries or departments

directly affected by a lift such as BC Parks and

Compliance and Enforcement. This takes time as

often officers are in the field and must be notified

of any changes.

Experience. The WMB is one

organization which never discounts

experience as part of the decision making

process. Local zones have input into the lifting of

a ban as they are the expert in local geography

and current conditions. Their knowledge of the

local area and any potential difficulties should a

ban be lifted is invaluable. In some cases, it is the

zone which will convince the fire centre that a

ban should be lifted or left in place based on their

experience of past seasons.

So multiple factors, multiple agencies and

various obligations must all be conferred with,

and/or adhered to before, during and after a

prohibition is put in place. The process is

somewhat time-consuming, can be costly

(patrolling and enforcing), and in some cases,

strongly and vocally opposed. Ultimately,

however, the Wildfire Management’s mandate is

to ‘deliver effective wildfire management and

emergency response support on behalf of the

government of BC to protect life and values at

risk and to encourage sustainable, healthy and

resilient ecosystems.’

Science. At the fire centre we have a

fire management specialist, a fire

behaviour specialist and a weather

technician. These technicians look at:

current and forecasted weather conditions; long

term (3 month) weather forecasts/trends; the

calculated Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index

system fuel moisture conditions, build up index

and drought codes; current and projected wildfire

activity; number of person-caused wildfires;

number of abandoned campfires; time of year;

local government bylaws and restrictions/bans;

neighbouring Fire Centre (shared borders)

conditions, activities, resources available to fight

fires, trends and other prohibitions.

Legal obligation. The Wildfire Act

lays out the government’s obligations for

fire prevention and fire control on lands

under its authority. Prohibiting and restricting

activities and devices is a measure used to safe-

guard the public-restricting or prohibiting open

fire is not something taken lightly.

The Province of BC relies heavily on certain

industries to drive its economy. Among the two

most affected by fire prohibitions are tourism and

forestry, so it is not without serious consideration

that a prohibition is put in place. It is also up to

senior officers to provide justification to their

superiors to enact any type of ban or prohibition.

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Check with your local

authority before burning.

Check the weather—make

sure ‘no gusty winds are

in the forecast’ and check

the venting index.

Determine what you want

to burn. If you have flower gardens, use the

leaves or pine straw to mulch the plants. It will

provide nutrients to the soil, and will help the

soil hold moisture for the plants. Sticks, limbs

and yard debris are good things to burn. Only

yard debris should be burned – woody debris.

Make sure that you have a rake, shovel, hose

and water access before you start burning. You

may use the rake to pull stray embers back into

the fire. The shovel may be used to scoop up

larger embers or break up pieces to make them

burn faster. You may also use the shovel to put

dirt over spots that start burning too much.

Always have a hose and water ready to use to

keep fire from spreading.

Find a clear space away from any trees or

material that will burn. You may burn on

mineral soil. If you burn on the ground, dig out

a small area. Make sure there isn't any grass or

straw remaining on the spot

where you are going to

burn. Make a small pile of

limbs, sticks and brush.

Light the brush pile with a

lighter or match. Do not

use oil, gas or other

combustibles to start your

fire. And remember a Category 2 open fire is

the burning of yard debris such as twigs, tree

limbs and other plant debris. Do not burn

household garbage! It may contain toxic

substances such as plastics that should be

safely disposed of elsewhere.

Burn the sticks, limbs and brush until it has

turned in to ashes. Keep adding brush to the

pile as it burns down, but don't add too much at

once. You do not want the fire to get too large

to control nor smother the fire so it creates too

much smoke. And Always, Always stay with

your fire!

Wet down the ashes. Make sure that after you

have burned all of the yard waste, you put the

fire out. You do not want to leave any hot

embers that could smolder and restart the fire.

Allow all of the embers to cool before you do

anything with the ashes.

Days and even weeks after you have a fire a pile or burn barrel may reignite. A pile or burn barrel may

continue to hold heat within the remaining ash. A drop in humidity brought on by a few warm days,

combined with a light wind could reignite the embers and bring your backyard burn back to life.

To ensure your fire is truly out, follow these steps:

Drown the ashes or remnants of your fire if you can no longer monitor it. Turn over the ashes with a

shovel and drown it again. Repeat several times until you can safely coldtrail the fire.

Check the burn area regularly over the next few hours and then over the next few days check it

intermittently.

At the onset of warm, dry weather, especially when accompanied by wind, check the burn area again,

even if it is weeks after the burn.

Remember—an escaped backyard burn not only affects you but could potentially affect your

neighbours or your whole community. You do not want to be responsible for burning down someone

else’s property.

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If you choose to use a burn

barrel to burn debris make sure

that your burn barrel has these

features:

1. Be sure that the barrel is all-

metal construction and is in

good condition. Inspect the

walls and the bottom of the

barrel to make sure the

barrel has not been

weakened by rust.

2. Make sure that the barrel has proper

ventilation. Three evenly spaced vents

around the bottom of the barrel will feed

air to the fire for a more efficient burn

but make sure the barrel is on mineral

soil.

3. The barrel should have a metal top

screen to reduce the number of embers

escaping. The wire should be a

minimum of 14 gauge mesh size or 6

mm.

4. For a more efficient burn

layer your materials and stir

often. Place the smallest twigs

and branches on the bottom of

the pile and stir to introduce

more oxygen to the pile. Keep

leaves, needles and bark in a

separate pile and feed them into

the barrel after the fire is

underway.

5. Never burn anything but natural

vegetation (twigs, leaves, etc.). Do not

burn household garbage, plastics or

anything not considered yard debris.

6. Think small—a small efficient fire is

more effective than a large roaring blaze.

It is easier to control, and easier to

maintain. Add small amounts of

material; it will keep the flame length

shorter and reduce the number of

sparks.

Before doing any debris burning

in a pile or in a burn barrel prepare

the site properly to reduce the risk of

the fire escaping. Otherwise, flame or

embers may ignite nearby vegetation

or structures and could potentially

start a wildfire.

Select an area where flames,

radiant heat and airborne embers

won’t affect any combustible

materials. Now look up. Vertical

clearance must be at least three times

the height of the pile. Although a

fires flames are visible several feet

above the source of the fuel, heat will

continue to rise. There should be no

overhanging limbs, power lines or

eaves above and it should be well

away from any buildings in the area.

The horizontal clearance should be

twice the height of the pile. The

ground around the fire should be

cleared down to mineral soil or gravel

so the fire does not traverse to any

roots below the surface.

When burning burn small piles that

are manageable. Although a Category

2 open fire allows for fires up to, but

no larger than 2 metres in height and 3

metres in width consider your location

and build a smaller fire if you are in a

more confined space.

A light wind is fine but strong or

gusty winds will whip the flames up

and move embers through the air.

Consider waiting for a calmer day if

the winds are too strong.

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Composting is an effective, environmentally

safe way to recycle yard waste, and the compost

is used to improve lawns, vegetable gardens and

flower beds, or it is applied as a mulch around

shrubs and trees. Generally, compost consists of

not only yard waste, but kitchen waste such as

egg shells, coffee grounds and vegetable peelings.

Many communities offer composting

programs, including convenient curbside

collection bins or drop-off programs. Yard waste

such as twigs and leaves can be chopped up with

a lawnmower and used as mulch on lawn or

around shrubs and trees. For larger branches,

chippers are available for rent. Check with your

community for programs.

Composting can reduce yard waste volume by

50 to 75 per cent. It adds rich nutrients to your

soil, saving money on costly fertilizers.

Since September 2, 2013, there have been 12

new fire starts in the Coastal Fire Centre. The

majority of these have been holdover lightning

and have been held at spot size (.09).

With the reduction in fire starts over the last

two weeks those crews remaining have shifted

gears and are working on fuels management

projects. These projects are in areas were the

reduction of fuels will reduce the severity of

damage, should a wildfire occur. Projects are

being carried out in parks, in municipalities and/

or regional districts.

According to our weather forecaster the warm

weather we have been experiencing will continue

until Sunday evening. The weather will shift

dramatically Sunday night resulting in widespread

showers and rain throughout. We would like to

remind everyone to be cautious with all burning.

With unseasonably warm weather until the end of

the weekend we ask that everyone be cautious,

whether it is with campfires or debris burning

please remember you are responsible for any

burning you initiate.

SYNOPSIS: The strong upper ridge, still over BC, will

bring another sunny warm day today and again

tomorrow. A very weak onshore flow overnight has

allowed sea fog to shroud western Vancouver Island,

including all the island major lakes, and wrap around

the island to reach the south side of the Fraser River.

The fog is quite shallow and looks to burn off before

noon. Temperatures today will be very similar to

Thursday rising to the high 20s and into the low 30s for

interior valleys. Humidity remains moderate and winds

light. There is insignificant convective development

and no showers occur. Saturday appears will be very

much the same and continues warm and dry.

OUTLOOK: Sunday sees the upper ridge finally shift

east with a broad and very wet upper trough moving in

to bring fall rains. But even so, Sunday starts sunny

then quickly clouds up as the trough approaches.

Temperatures will be warm but not hot; humidity rises

of course; but winds remain light. The Canadian and

US models are in close agreement bringing the first

rains to southwest Vancouver Island around 5 PM

Sunday. After that, further periods of rain or frequent

showers spread across the island, east across the

mainland and northward to the Mid-coast and Haida

Gwaii. Some models show 24 hour amounts of well

over 20 mm by Monday afternoon. It continues to rain

Tuesday.

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Check with local officials—

burning at your location may

be prohibited.

Check the weather—don’t

burn on dry, windy days.

Check your equipment—

have fire fighting equipment

and water ready.