Planning a burn

Requirement for a burn plan

A burn plan is required for any resource management open fire as per section 23 of the Wildfire Regulation.

Burn plan resources:

• Appendix 1 -  Prescribed Fire Burn Plan Template (DOCX, 60KB) (October 1, 2019)
• Appendix 1a - Burn Plan Signature Sheet (PDF, 255KB)
• Appendix 2 - Prescribed Fire Communications Plan Template (DOCX, 50KB)
• Appendix 3 - Prescribed Fire Approval Process (PDF, 442KB)
• Appendix 4 - Prescribed Fire Steps (PDF, 455KB)

Policies and procedures:

• Policy 9.5 - Prescribed Fire and Resource Management Open Fire (PDF, 634KB)
• Prescribed Fire - Standard Operating Procedure (PDF, 741KB) 

Submission of a burn plan

As per section 23 of the Wildfire Regulation, the person preparing for a burn must develop and submit a burn plan to an official (60 days before the proposed ignition) and receive the official's approval to it in writing.

NOTE: The official that signs a burn plan as approved must have spending authority for the fire suppression vote in the event an escape fire occurs from the burn and fire suppression vote moneys need to be expended. The official who approves a burn plan must be certified to the level that the broadcast burn has been rated at (i.e. Type I, Type II, Type III).

Prescribed fire complexity rating guide

A complexity rating system has been adapted to B.C. to rate broadcast burns into three (3) levels. The rating system is included in the burn plan as schedule 2. Once a burn has been rated it will be classified as a Type I, Type II, or a Type III burn. At this point a burn boss can be selected that meets the appropriate certification level.

Prescribed Fire Complexity Worksheet and Rating Guide (PDF, 165KB)

Contact

For any questions regarding planning and executing a prescribed burn please contact  BCWS.C&RxFire@gov.bc.ca.