Please find attached an Information Bulletin from the Coastal Fire Centre regarding the lifting of all open burning prohibitions. The release provides details, along with a link to the map of the Coastal Fire Centre jurisdictional area. Please see the entire text of the attached message below this email.
For Immediate Release : September 15, 2021
Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development BC Wildfire Service
PARKSVILLE – Effective at 12:00 (noon) Pacific Standard Time, Thursday September 16, 2021, all open fires will again be permitted throughout the Coastal Fire Centre’s jurisdiction. This rescind is the result of recent rainfall that has reduced the wildfire risk in the region, along with the return of seasonal temperatures. Please see the attached map: http://ow.ly/NwAe30rU3eI.
For more information on what to expect as we head into the fall season, find the latest seasonal outlook here: http://ow.ly/8edq50G80k7.
The public is asked to undertake open burning responsibly and to follow guidance to ensure their burning is conducted in a safe manner.
This rescind means that campfires, Category 2 and 3 open fires, and Resource Management Burning will be permitted everywhere in the Coastal Fire Centre’s jurisdictional area.
Local governments may still have their own burning restrictions in place and people intending to light a fire should always check with local authorities before lighting any fire of any size.
The following activities are no longer restricted:
Anyone lighting a Category 3 open fire must first obtain a burn registration number by calling 1 888 797-1717. A Category 3 open fire is a fire that burns material more than two metres high or three metres wide, stubble or grass of more than 2,000 square metres, or more than two piles of any size. A poster explaining the different categories of open burning is available online: http://ow.ly/znny309kJv5
Anyone who lights a fire must comply with B.C.’s air quality control legislation. The BC Wildfire
Service urges people to take the following precautions with any permitted outdoor burning:
The Coastal Fire Centre covers all of the area west of the height of land on the Coast Mountain
Range from the U.S. – Canada border at Manning Park, including Tweedsmuir South Provincial
Park in the north, the Sunshine Coast, the Lower Mainland, Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands
and Haida Gwaii.
To report a wildfire, unattended campfire or open burning violation, call 1 800 663-5555 tollfree or *5555 on a cellphone.
Contact:
Fire Information Officer
Coastal Fire Centre
250 951-4209
Connect with the Province of B.C. at www.gov.bc.ca/connect
Effective Friday, September 3, 2021 at 12:00 pm, the campfire prohibition in the Coastal Fire Centre will be lifted in all regions of the jurisdictional area of BC Wildfire Service except for the South Island Resource District area. This includes all of Cortes Island. For detailed information, please refer to the map at this link
Due to the extreme risk of fire our area is experiencing at present, the province has placed a ban on activities that are deemed high risk for fire ignition. This includes but is not limited to chain saw use and industrial land clearing. The provincial website for accessing fire danger ratings, fire bans and restrictions, and other information is bcwildfire.ca. We are in the Coastal zone.
High risk activities information is found at the following link https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/prevention/for-industry-commercial-operators/high-risk-activities
Please contact BC Wildfire Service for more information at 250-951-4209.
This is your official heads-up that the BC Wildfire Service will be putting on a province wide category 1 open fire use prohibition, to take effect June 30th at noon.
A formal information bulletin will be out today.
This is the link to the Wildfire website where you can find more information.
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/fire-bans-and-restrictions
We wanted to share with you the information that we are enacting a Category 2 & Category 3 prohibition that will begin at noon on June 23.
Please see the attached bulletin for the details.
The prohibition will include any area that BCWS has jurisdiction over.
Thank you very much for your time and have a wonderful day.
Report Wildfires: 1 800 663-5555 or *5555
Trigger Warning: This article includes information about Residential School experiences
We share in the grief and outrage expressed across B.C., Canada and the world for the trauma and harms done at the Kamloops residential school – and all residential schools – to so many children, their families, and communities.
As First Nations work to determine the next steps at that site and other possible sites in the province, it is important that we take our guidance from the respective First Nations.
The Tk’emlúps te Secweěpemc are leading the response and next steps. The community has asked everyone to reacquaint themselves with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Final Report and Calls to Action, and for people to wear orange shirts as an act of solidarity and to start conversations.
Truth and Reconciliation Committee Reports
Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future. Summary of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada: https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf
Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action: https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf
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On May 27 the Tk’emlúps te Secweěpemc reported finding remains of 215 children buried on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
So many children were forever taken from families and communities that loved them, and who could not properly mourn them and put them to rest. Last week’s announcement makes that truth real, and very painful.
The immense sense of loss, grief and pain felt by those families and communities is unimaginable and our thoughts are with the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, Indigenous communities across Canada and Indigenous peoples on the BC Wildfire Service team.
We acknowledge with deep respect the work of the Tk’emlúps te Secweěpemc, as caretakers of these children.
This discovery is a stark reminder of the importance of reconciliation, holding space for the past and doing everything we can to build a better future.
The BC Wildfire Service joined the province in lowering flags to half-mast to honour and respect the stolen children from the former Kamloops Residential School and residential schools across the country.
Reconciliation is an ongoing process. There is much more to be done, and we are fully committed to doing this work.
Every day our team take steps to strengthen relationships with the Indigenous communities and nations we work in and protect around the province.
Fire Centre Manager
Coastal Fire Centre
BC Wildfire Service | Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development
Phone: 250 947-2614 (New) | Cell: 250 203-0621
Report Wildfires: 1 800 663-5555 or *5555
Do you have what it takes to answer the call?
Would you like to learn new skills, help your community when needed most, and create life long bonds between first responders.
If so, the Cortes Island Fire Department will be recruiting next month and would welcome your attendance.
Come to the Mansons Landing Fire Station (Hall #1) on Monday, February 10th at 7pm for a 1 hr orientation. Our boot camp training schedule will be determined at that time.
Due to COVID 19 protocols, we will be accepting a maximum of 10 people this year in order to maintain a safe working environment.
Feel free to contact Fire Chief Mac Diver at corteschief@gmail.com if you have any questions, or wish to confirm your attendance.
Cortes Island Fire-Fighting Association AGM
Time: Jan 25, 2021 07:00 PM Pacific Time
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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89649213449
Meeting ID: 896 4921 3449
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