Coastal Fire Centre prohibitions and restrictions

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The Coastal Fire Centre covers the Lower Mainland, Sea-to-Sky corridor, Vancouver Island, the Central Coast and Haida Gwaii. The regional office is based in Parksville, B.C.

On this page

• Current open fire prohibitions
• Additional restricted activities and equipment  (including off-road vehicle prohibitions)
• Current area restrictions
• About prohibitions and restrictions

Current open fire prohibitions and restrictions 

Municipalities are responsible for regulating open fire within their boundaries. Please check with your local government before lighting any fire.

Information and map

Additional restricted activities and equipment

The following activities and use of equipment, materials and substances are also prohibited throughout the Coastal Fire Centre:

• Fireworks, as defined in the Fireworks Act of BC
• Binary exploding targets
• Sky Lanterns
• Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description
• Controlled air incinerators
• Air curtain burners
• Carbonizers
• Wood fired hot tubs, wood fired pizza ovens and other wood fired devices unless vented through a structure that has a flue and is incorporated in a building
• The operation of any Off-Road Vehicle (ORV), for recreational purposes on Crown land, as defined in the Off-Road Vehicle Act and further prescribed in section 2(a) all-terrain vehicles, (b) motorcycles and (c) off-road side-by-side vehicles, of the Off-Road Vehicle Regulation (with exceptions for the North Island/Mid Coast, Mid Island and Sunshine Coast)
  • ORV prohibition information

Current restrictions

Ainslie Creek (V10755) area restriction - in effect August 14, 2026 

About prohibitions and restrictions

To limit the risk of wildfires and address public safety concerns, BC Wildfire Service may establish prohibitions (fire bans) through legal orders to prohibit or restrict certain activities and describe where they apply, including:

• Open fire prohibition orders, commonly referred to as "fire bans", prohibit the use of some or all categories of open fire (Wildfire Act, section 10)
• Equipment/activity prohibition orders prohibit the use of certain activities, equipment, materials or substances (Wildfire Act, section 12)
• Area restriction orders restrict access to areas where there are ongoing fire suppression activities (Wildfire Act, section 11)
• Leave area orders require all persons in a specified area to leave, where government is engaged in fire control (Wildfire Act, section 13)

Information about BC Wildfire Service prohibition and restriction orders are circulated in the media, sent to local and Indigenous governments and posted publicly on the BC Wildfire Service blog.