BC Wildfire update: Category 3 open fires prohibited in the Kamloops Fire Centre beginning May 16, 2025

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Partner Update

BC Wildfire Service shared the following update: 

KAMLOOPS – Effective at 12:00 p.m. (noon) PDT, on May 16, 2025, Category 3 open fires will be prohibited throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre (which includes the Village of Lytton) to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety. This open fire prohibition will remain in effect until 12:00 p.m. (noon) PDT on Oct. 17, 2025, or until the orders are rescinded.

Anyone conducting Category 3 open fires within the Kamloops Fire Centre’s jurisdiction must extinguish those fires by the 12:00 p.m. (noon) May 16 deadline.

A map of the affected area is available online.

Category 3 open fire, as defined in the Wildfire Regulation, refers to any fire that burns:

  • Material concurrently in 3 or more piles each not exceeding 2 metres in height and 3 metres in width
  • Material in one or more piles each exceeding 2 metres in height or 3 metres in width
  • One or more windrows, none of which exceed 200 metres in length or 15 metres in width
  • Stubble or grass over an area exceeding 0.2 hectares

This prohibition does not ban Category 1 campfires or Category 2 open fires. More information on open burning, including a description of each category of burn, is available online.

Read the complete blog post on the BC Government's website.