09/01/2026
Ministry of Forests
BC Wildfire Service
Category 1 campfires permitted throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre
KAMLOOPS – Effective at 12:00 noon Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on September 3.
Category 1 campfires will be permitted throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre. Category 2 and Category 3 open fires remain prohibited throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre. As the campfire prohibition is being lifted, we ask the public to remain vigilant and follow all regulations when enjoying campfires. To learn more about open fire and safer burning, check out our webpage here.
A campfire is defined as:
Any fire no larger than 0.5 metres high by 0.5 metres wide (a fire larger than this is considered a Category 2 fire).
Used by any person for recreational purposes or by a First Nation for a ceremonial purpose.
The following activities remain prohibited:
Air curtain burners
Carbonizers
Binary exploding targets
Fireworks, as defined in the Fireworks Act of BC
Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description, except when used for a Category 1 campfire as defined in the Wildfire Regulation
Controlled air incinerators
Other activities which were previously prohibited, but will now be permitted include:
Sky lanterns
Pellet BBQ and smokers
Wood fired hot tubs, wood fired pizza ovens and other wood fired devices, including those vented through a structure that has a flue and is incorporated in a building
The rescind of this prohibition applies to all areas in the Fire Centre that are outside of municipal boundaries. In addition, this rescindment applies to the following types of land within municipal boundaries:
parks, conservancies and recreation areas (Park Act);
recreation sites, recreation trails, interpretive forest sites and trail-based recreation areas (Forest and Range Practices Act);
ecological reserves (Ecological Reserve Act);
wildlife management areas (Wildlife Act); and
private managed forest land (Private Managed Forest Land Act).
Municipalities often follow BC Wildfire Service prohibitions or may impose different prohibitions based on conditions in their local area. If you are in a municipality, be sure to check if local prohibitions are in place. If you are within a regional district or improvement district, this rescindment applies as well as any local prohibition rescindments issued by the regional district or improvement district. BC Parks follows BC Wildfire Service prohibitions.
Anyone found in contravention of an open burning prohibition may be issued a ticket for $1,150, required to pay an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 or, if convicted in court, fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail. If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be ordered to pay all firefighting and associated costs.
The Kamloops Fire Centre would like to thank the public for its ongoing help in preventing wildfires. To report a wildfire, unattended campfire or open burning violation, call 1 800 663 5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cell phone. For up-to-date information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air quality advisories visit www.bcwildfire.ca.
