Roy L Hales/ CKTZ News -As of noon on Thursday June 24th, there has been a partial fire ban in the Greater Campbell River area.

Categories 2 and 3 fires are now prohibited in our area. Type 3 is an industrial burn, that would be piled up with a machine. Type 2 is smaller and mostly associate with backyards.”

“Campfire are still going to be allowed … but we are asking the public to be extremely cautious. A campfire cannot be more than half a metre by half a metre (18 x 18 inches). It has to be on mineral soil. You have to have a fuel guard around your campfire. You cannot leave your fire unattended and must have tools or 8 litres of water on hand to put your campfire out. The fire pit must be cool to the touch before you leave the area,” said Julia Caranci of the Coastal Fire Centre, BC Wildfire Service.

The fire danger risk went form to to moderate, and in some areas even high, in just a little over a week.

“The forests are getting dry and stressed. We want people to know because they may not be aware just how quickly that change has happened in just a little over a week,” said Caranci. There are no fire areas in our area at this time. The closest fires are in Hope and there is also a small fire in Ucluelet.

“Our forecasters and predictive service specialists are saying the end of June and beginning of July are going to be warmer than seasonal in many parts of the province, In the Southern half of BC, the forest complexes are beginning to reach elevated drought conditions, with high temperatures and low relative humidity values. These conditions can contribute the potential for worsening wildfire conditions, when ignition happens,” explained Caranchi.

She added, “All of the fires we have had so far this season has been human caused and every human caused wildfire is preventable. So we are asking the public to be extremely cautious so that we do not have more human caused fires.”