Many of us are willing to give up the pleasure of a summer campfire in order to prevent wildfires, according to a recent Squamish Chief online poll.
The Squamish Chief polled 404 readers, asking, "Should there be a campfire ban all season to prevent wildfires?"
The poll ran from May 6 to 24.
About 55% of respondents said yes, while 34% said no.
According to the BC Wildfire Service, almost half of all wildfires in B.C. are caused by humans.
As of May 25, there have been 220 wildfires, burning 6,728 hectares of land in B.C. this wildfire season, which starts April 1.
Of those fires, 182 were human-caused, 31 were caused by lightning, and for seven, the cause is not known.
Meaning, so far this season, 83% of all fires have been caused by people.
We have had some close calls with wildfires near town over recent years, including two so far this season.
Thus, it may seem like a no-brainer to just ban open fire all season to stack our odds in favour of not having a wildfire spark and get out of control.
But, according to the BC Wildfire Service, banning fires doesn't always make sense.
"Fire is a very useful tool when used responsibly, so it doesn’t make sense to ban all forms of burning when the wildfire risk is low," reads the organization's website.
“During the spring, farmers and ranchers may conduct controlled burns for agricultural purposes, and the forestry industry conducts 'slash' burning to remove wood debris left behind after timber harvesting. British Columbia is also renowned for its great outdoors, and many enjoy campfires while camping in B.C.’s parks and recreation sites. Many tourism operators also offer wilderness experiences that include campfires."
Results are based on an online study of adult Squamish Chief readers that are located in Squamish. The margin of error - which measures sample variability - is +/- 4.83%, 19 times out of 20.
The Squamish Chief uses a variety of techniques to capture data, detect and prevent fraudulent votes, detect and prevent robots, and filter out non-local and duplicate votes.
