The Chutanli Lake and Purvis Lake wildfires flared up once again on the eve of an outdoor burning from the Prince George Fire Centre.
The hot conditions have led to some recent growth on a pair of area wildfires according to Fire Information Officer Forrest Tower.
“We’re estimating it is around 1,500 hectares (Chutanli Lake fire) as it’s very hard to tell with the smoke currently and then the Purvis Lake fire is has seen less of a growth but it is still growing but one of the service roads is still threatened at this point.”
Tower adds the local fire centre could see even more fires with the current conditions the way they are.
“It’s due to the hot temperatures we are currently experiencing, especially in the next two days as well there are some pretty unfavourable weather conditions in the forecast, so a cold front is going to make its way here this weekend, which brings pretty high winds and there is also the potential for some dry lightning.”
The local fire centre wants to limit any additional starts in the area and the outdoor burning helps curb any additional human-caused fires.
The fire ban takes effect at noon tomorrow and includes all Category 2 and 3 fires.
Four of the six forest sub-districts are under the prohibitions, including:
- Prince George
- Vanderhoof
- Fort St. James
- Mackenzie
This ban does not effect residents living in the Peace and Fort Nelson Forest Districts.
In addition to a ban on campfires and most open burning, other restrictions include
- Burning of waste, slash, or other materials
- Stubble or grass fires of any size over any area
- Use of stoves and other portable campfire apparatuses that are not CSA-approved or ULC-approved
- Fires burning woody debris in outdoor stoves
- Use of tiki torches, fireworks, firecrackers, sky lanterns, burning barrels
- Use of binary exploding targets (e.g. for rifle target practice)
For more information on the upcoming bans, you can click here.
Effective noon Aug 9, all open burning – campfires, Category 2 open burns and Category 3 open burns – will be prohibited within the Omineca region of the Prince George Fire Centre due to weather conditions and the number of fires in the region. Info: https://t.co/aG9eIRGcZ7 pic.twitter.com/AyWbAdkM16
— BC Wildfire Service (@BCGovFireInfo) August 8, 2018