In BC, a Category 1 campfire must be smaller than 0.5 by 0.5 metres
BC defines four categories of open fire under the Wildfire Regulation. A Category 1 fire is a campfire — defined as no larger than 0.5 metres high by...
BC defines four categories of open fire under the Wildfire Regulation. A Category 1 fire is a campfire — defined as no larger than 0.5 metres high by 0.5 metres wide. Anything bigger is a Category 2 (debris piles up to 2 metres high by 3 metres wide) or Category 3 (multiple piles, windrows, or burning over 0.2 hectares) open fire. Category 4 is a resource management fire, used for prescribed burns and Indigenous cultural fire. When a Category 1 campfire prohibition is in force, only CSA or ULC approved devices using briquettes, liquid or gaseous fuel are permitted, and the flame length must stay under 15 cm. When Category 2 or 3 prohibitions are in force, the larger fires they describe are also banned. Knowing the size limit matters because it is enforced — if your fire is larger than 0.5 by 0.5 metres, it is no longer a campfire under BC law and may be illegal even when campfires are permitted. Build small, ringed fires inside an existing fire pit, on bare mineral soil, with a one-metre clearance of any flammable material around the ring.
A legal BC campfire is no taller and no wider than half a metre — anything bigger is a Category 2 open fire and may be banned even when campfires are allowed.
Source: BC — Open Fire and Safer Burning
Last reviewed 2026-05-02.
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