Vancouver bans BBQs in parks, beaches due to fire risk

Due to the city’s extreme fire risk, the Vancouver Park Board is banning all barbecues from its parks and beaches until further notice.

Effective Tuesday evening, the park board says the move is to try and keep “parks safe from fires.”

The ban comes as Vancouver sees a mini-heatwave this week, with temperatures feeling like 30° C in some areas of the Lower Mainland.

The park board also has a ban on smoking, and beach or pit fires in the area due to the ongoing fire risk.

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• Open fire ban issued for much of B.C.

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A number of wildfire rage on across British Columbia, and an open fire ban is to begin Thursday for much of the province, including B.C.’s South Coast, including the Lower Mainland.

The Category 1 burn prohibition will be in place for the Coastal Fire Centre, the Kamloops Fire Centre, the Cariboo Fire Centre, and the Prince George Fire Centre starting on June 8.

Along with campfires, fireworks, sky lanterns, burn barrels and tiki torches, and chimineas also fall under the ban.

Meanwhile, a wildfire burning east of Port Alberni on Vancouver Island has forced the closure of Highway 4.

The Cameron Bluffs blaze, which, as of 4 p.m. Tuesday was an estimated 109 hectares, closed the highway at Cameron Lake, with drivers urged to “use caution and focus on the road when travelling through the area.”

–With files from Hana Mae Nassar and Robyn Crawford