BC Conservation Officers Issued Canadians Over $14,000 Worth Of Fines This Weekend For Starting Fires
It's a great time to go camping, right? It's the prime of summer, you've had your holidays booked off for months, and you already have your camping spot reserved.
But, for some Canadians, deciding to go camping could also have the potential for garnering you some serious fines.
As we all know, the past few months have been extremely dangerous for wildfires. It seems like most of Canada has been enduring heatwave after heatwave since the beginning of summer.
This means that it's the perfect dry summer conditions to spark wildfires. Just one month ago, we reported that there were 78 active forest fires in Ontario and a shocking 33 of them were not under control. This even caused the town of Temagami, Ontario to enter into a state of emergency when locals were forced to evacuate the area.
EVACUATION NEAR TEMAGAMI due to fire. #OPP from #Temagami and #TemiskamingShores ASSISTING MNRF. MNRF mandatory evacuation affecting area. #Hwy11 remains open however fire conditions may cause closures. If travelling consider delaying or using alternate routes. ^cb pic.twitter.com/ZosTce9BM3
So, officials are taking the threat of wildfires very seriously, especially when it comes to Canadians camping out in the wilderness.
It was only a few short weeks ago, that we reported that there were over 100 forest fires in Ontario and BC. 14 of those fires were sparked across BC in a single weekend.
Sea to Sky COs issued 13 violation tickets for illegal campfires over the long weekend. Fines issued totalled $14,950. Most of the campfires were found in the Squamish Valley.#seatosky #squamish pic.twitter.com/2yM5hkGgdd
Just yesterday, BC's Conservation Officer Service stated that their official issued 13 violation tickets over the weekend and it cost Canadians a whole lot of money.
@_BCCOS stated that over the holiday weekend, Sea To Sky Conservation Officers issued over a dozen violation tickets for illegal campfires in the Squamish Valley area.
The 13 issued fines totalled to a whooping $14,950!
A penny for your thoughts unfortunately equated to 460,000 pennies ($4,600) in the form of fines, being issued by East Kootenay BCCOS re 4 unlawful camp fires encountered during fire ban patrols last night. 252 wildfires in SE BC recorded in 2018. What were the campers thinking? pic.twitter.com/Bdt1OOUCVM
Earlier this month, BC Conservation Officer Service tweeted out this image shaming Canadian campers against illegal campfires.
This just goes to show, Canadian officials are taking the ongoing wildfire crisis very seriously!