Campfire ban put into effect

Any plans for residents to sit around a campfire while self-isolating have been doused.

Effective immediately, all campfires are prohibited throughout all Central Okanagan municipalities and electoral area fire service areas.

The ban is in effect until further notice to support COVID-19 health efforts by reducing potential air pollution.

It follows last week’s decision from B.C. Environment and health officials to suspend open burning until at least April 15 in High Sensitivity Areas including the Central Okanagan.

The campfire ban affects all local government fire jurisdictions in the Regional District of Central Okanagan including the City of West Kelowna, District of Lake Country, District of Peachland, Westbank First Nation and the Central Okanagan East and Central Okanagan West electoral areas. Campfires are not permitted at any time within the City of Kelowna.

At this point, the Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) has not issued notice of a campfire ban in its service area.

RDNO earlier cancelled all open burning permits issued by the RDNO for the fire protection areas of Electoral Areas B (Swan Lake) and C (BX / Silver Star) between March 31 and April 15.