Skip to content

Fire bans lifted for Clearwater Fire Zone

District of Clearwater usually follows Clearwater Fire Zones lead and has also lifted its open fire ban
30162clearwaterCwLakeFire
A small fire burns east of the south end of Clearwater Lake in Wells Gray Park. Wildfire Management Branch and BC Parks are monitoring this and another fire about nine km north.

As of noon on Monday, Sept. 14, open fires for backyard and industrial burning were permitted throughout the entire Clearwater Fire Zone.

“Normally we only allow burning over 1,200 meters on this day,” said forest protection officer Jim Jones. “However, with all the rainfall we've been having, we opened the whole fire zone up to Category 2 and Category 3 fires.”

“People still need to be careful,” he added, pointing to a grassfire near Princeton on the weekend that grew rapidly to 180 ha. “Don't burn on windy days and have the necessary equipment on hand.”

Jones said the forest industry also is being asked to be cautious and to start burning at higher elevations first.

Lifting the fire ban was done after consultation with Thompson-Nicola Regional District and District of Clearwater, he said. Both were in support of the decision.

District of Clearwater usually follows Clearwater Fire Zones lead and has also lifted its open fire ban.

Permits are required for land clearing, commercial or industrial burning.

In contrast with several other areas in the Interior, Clearwater Fire Zone has not had a campfire ban for most of the summer.

As of Monday, two small fires in Wells Gray Park were being monitored by Clearwater Fire Zone. One was a few kilometers east of the south end of Clearwater Lake, while the second was about nine km north, also on the east side of the lake.

Both forest fires could be seen from the lake, resulting in occasional reports from canoeists to the fire zone.

 

Following BC Parks' policy, both were only being monitored. They would not be actioned unless they threatened to grow and threaten buildings or other infrastructure.