Effective at 1:00 pm Mountain Time on Friday, July 11, 2025, Category 2 open fires will be prohibited throughout the Southeast Fire Centre, which includes the Rocky Mountain Natural Resource District, the Selkirk Natural Resource District, Fernie, the Elk Valley and South Country. This prohibition is being enacted to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect public safety.
Anyone conducting a Category 2 open fire within the Southeast Fire Centre’s jurisdiction must extinguish those fires by the 1:00 pm Mountain Time, July 11, 2025, deadline.
This prohibition will remain in place until 1:00 pm Mountain Time October 30, 2025, or until the order is rescinded.
This prohibition does not include Category 1 campfires. Further information on the different types of open fire is available online.
A Category 2 open fire is a fire that burns:
• Material in one pile not exceeding 2 metres in height and 3 metres in width
• Material concurrently in 2 piles each not exceeding 2 metres in height and 3 metres in width
• Stubble or grass over an area that does not exceed 0.2 hectares
Also prohibited is the equipment and activities listed below (Wildfire Act, Section 12):
• Air curtain burners
• Carbonizers
• Fireworks, as defined in the Fireworks Act
• Binary exploding targets
• Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description
• Controlled air incinerators
This prohibition applies to all areas in the Southeast Fire Centre that are outside of municipal boundaries. In addition, this prohibition 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)
• Private managed forest land (Private Managed Forest Land Act)
Offences and fines
Anyone found in contravention of an open fire prohibition may be issued a ticket for $1,150, required to pay an administrative penalty of $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.
Report a wildfire
The Southeast Fire Centre would like to thank the public for its continuing help in preventing wildfires.
To report a wildfire, unattended campfire, or open burning violation, dial *5555 on a cell phone or call 1 800 663-5555 toll-free.
