Prince George, B.C. – The wildfire season in both British Columbia and Alberta is off to an explosive start with the truly staggering destruction in Fort McMurray and fires raging in the Peace Region.

Above seasonal, if not record, temperatures have been recorded in many B.C. communities this spring and the provincial government says it’s more important than ever for communities and individuals to do their part to help protect homes, resources and infrastructure from wildfire threats.

FireSmart Canada has declared today, May 7th, as the second annual Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, providing an opportunity for communities to learn more about preventing fires and reducing wildfire risks. Homeowners are also encouraged to look over their properties to determine how they can make them more fire-resistant by using simple FireSmart measures.    Those include:

• trimming and thinning out trees, shrubs and other vegetation
• removing flammable material from the property, such as dead wood or tree needles
• ensuring that woodpiles and other easily ignited items are stored away from buildings
• using fire-resistant construction and landscaping materials

The recently updated FireSmart Homeowner’s Manual was developed specifically to help homeowners reduce the risk of personal property damage from wildfire. It is available online at: http://bcwildfire.ca/Prevention/firesmart.htm

Anyone heading out into the backcountry is cautioned to be extremely careful when doing any open burning, since conditions are very dry in some areas of the province. Information about current campfire and open burning prohibitions is available on the BC Wildfire Service website at:  http://bcwildfire.ca/hprScripts/WildfireNews/Bans.asp

Residents must also obey local government fire bylaws and restrictions that may be in place and should contact local authorities before igniting any fire.  If open burning is allowed in your area, always have enough people, water and tools on hand to prevent the fire escaping. Never burn in windy conditions and never leave a fire unattended for any length of time.

Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson says “Wildfire prevention is a shared responsibility of the provincial government, local governments, industry stakeholders and individual British Columbians. We will continue to raise public awareness of potential wildfire threats and promote the FireSmart program to help protect our communities, resources and infrastructure.”

On April 1, 2016, the B.C. government significantly increased ticket fines for 19 different violations under the Wildfire Act and seven violations under the Wildfire Regulation. The fine for failing to comply with a fire restriction under the Wildfire Act has more than tripled — from $345 to $1,150.

Anyone who spots a wildfire, unattended campfire or open burning violation should immediately call *5555 on a cellphone or 1 800 663-5555 toll-free. Up-to-date information about current wildfire activity is available online at: http://www.bcwildfire.ca

You can also follow the latest wildfire news:

• On Twitter at: http://twitter.com/BCGovFireInfo
• On Facebook at: http://facebook.com/BCForestFireInfo