Prince George, B.C.- June of 2009 could go in the books as one of the driest   on record. Normally the city gets about 64.4 mm of precipitation in June.

 

We are more than half way through the month already and the city has only seen 4.8 mm.

 

There is rain in the forecast for today and a pretty good chance of more on the way for   the balance of the week, however, unless there is a major storm, it would appear this June will not hit the norm for rainfall. And if there is a major storm it may well bring lightning, so while the rain may be welcome, that lightning could very well touch off new fires.

 

With the bush very dry, especially with the dead pine. There is an ever increasing risk of forest fires . The Ministry of Forests and Range is   reminding everyone once again to be very careful when camping, ATVing, motor-biking or any kind of activity in the  woods and on the trails.

 

There remains in effect a ban on  category 2 and three open fires in the Prince George Fire Centre region. A Category 2 open fire means an open fire that burns piled material no larger than two metres high and three metres wide, or grass over an area less than 0.2 hectares (2000 square metres) in size.

 

A Category 3 open fire means an open fire that burns material in piles larger than two metres high and three metres wide, windrows, or grass over an larger than 0.2 hectares (2000 square metres) in size, this includes all resource management burns.

 

At this time, there are no campfire bans in effect in the Prince George Fire Centre.