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Campfire ban needs to stick all summer in B.C.

No reason for lifting it at any time regardless if some July and August rain actually occurs
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It’s time to stop the on-again, off-again campfire bans that happen around the province each year.

The new reality with so many extremely dry summers occurring in recent years, a long-term ban needs to remain in place regardless if there’s a drop or two of rain that would normally lead to it being lifted.

It’s probably fair to pick a date, let’s say July 2 so Canada Day would be the last day of the summer for campfires, and stick with it so everyone knows the guidelines. The campfire ban would not be lifted again until after the Labour Day weekend.

There are plenty of alternatives these days with propane units providing an atmosphere that’s just as good.

The risk simply isn’t worth it to have any burning allowed throughout July and August because one tiny spark in the tinder dry conditions we’ve been experiencing can easily cause a major wildfire.

And, as we’ve seen in the Cariboo region last year and the Interior/Okanagan this year, it creates major distress for so many people. The fires seem to be happening more frequently close to populated areas so that’s a good indication many are unnecessarily human-caused and we need to eliminate those.

The lightning strikes that cause fires in many regions are enough for firefighters to handle.

We’re fortunate here on the Island we get very few lightning strikes during the summer so all the more reason to eliminate our risk of fire by banning campfires altogether.

People may squawk and moan, but too bad. There is absolutely no good reason for fires to be allowed when the potential for a serious catastrophe is so great.

We’ll just have to learn to live with it.



Don Bodger

About the Author: Don Bodger

I've been a part of the newspaper industry since 1980 when I began on a part-time basis covering sports for the Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle.
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