Current Burn Status
Effective Thursday, July 16, 2026, at 12 p.m. (noon)
Campfire ban is in effect.
Campfires are prohibited throughout the Shawnigan Lake Improvement District. These prohibitions apply to all public and private land.
This prohibition will be in place until the order is rescinded.
Category 1 campfires, Category 2 open fires, and Category 3 open fires are all prohibited.
The graphic below explains the different categories of open burning and applicable regulations.
In addition to fires being prohibited, the following activities and equipment are also restricted:
- Fireworks;
- Binary exploding targets;
- Sky Lanterns
- 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;
- Burn barrels or burn cages of any size or description;
- Controlled air incinerators;
- Tiki and similar kind of torches;
- Chimineas;
- Air curtain burners; and
- Carbonizers.
This prohibition does not include the use of outdoor stoves. As per the Wildfire Regulation, an outdoor stove is a CSA-rated or ULC-rated device used outdoors for cooking, heat or ambiance that burns charcoal briquettes, liquid fuel or gaseous fuel, and has a flame height that is less than 15 cm tall.
Enforcement
Enforcement of fire prohibitions is undertaken by:
- The Compliance and Enforcement Branch of the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development;
- The Conservation Officer Service; and
- The RCMP
All illegal fires will be investigated, and charges may be laid under the Wildfire Act or Wildfire Regulation, depending on the outcome of the investigation.
Anyone found in contravention of an open burning prohibition may be issued a violation 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.
To report a wildfire, unattended campfire or open burning violation, call 1-800-663-5555 toll-free or *5555 on a cellphone.
