Pritchard FireSmart

09/01/2026

🔥🌲 PRITCHARD FIRESMART We can Start Closest to Home

It’s crazy that a small area can make a big difference.

FireSmart BC recommends keeping the first 1.5 metres around your home and attached deck non-combustible. This Immediate Zone is where wind-blown embers can collect and ignite nearby materials.

Take a quick walk around your home today:

✅ Remove dry leaves, needles and grass
✅ Clear debris from under decks and stairs
✅ Move firewood, lumber, patio cushions and other combustibles away to either a fire rated building, or to the extended zone.
✅ Keep plants and bark mulch outside the 1.5-metre zone
✅ Consider gravel, brick or concrete beside the structure

Even plants labelled fire-resistant should not be planted within 1.5 metres of a home. No plant is fireproof.

Learn more from FireSmart BC’s Home Ignition Zone guidance⁠ and Landscaping Best Practices⁠.

Pritchard challenge: Set a timer for 15 minutes and improve one section beside your home today. What can you move, clean or change?

08/30/2026

🔥 PRITCHARD FIRESMART COMMUNITY UPDATE 🔥

OFF-ROAD VEHICLE BAN LIFTED

Effective Friday, August 28, 2026, at noon, the off-road vehicle prohibition on Crown land throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre has been rescinded.

Recent rainfall has reduced the wildfire risk enough to allow recreational use of:

✅ ATVs
✅ Motorcycles
✅ Side-by-sides

Although conditions have improved, wildfire risk remains. Please ensure your off-road vehicle is properly maintained and equipped with an effective spark arrestor.

🚫 All open-fire prohibitions remain in effect, including:

• Category 1 campfires
• Category 2 and 3 open fires
• Fireworks and sky lanterns
• Burn barrels and burn cages
• Binary exploding targets
• Other prohibited wood-burning devices

Please also respect any wildfire area restrictions that remain in place.

🌲 Conditions can change quickly. Staying informed helps protect our homes, our neighbours and our entire community.

Follow Pritchard FireSmart for current local information and important wildfire updates.

Report a wildfire:
📱 *5555 from a cellphone
☎️ 1-800-663-5555

08/16/2026

08/11/2026

🚨🔥 IMPORTANT WILDFIRE NOTICE FOR PRITCHARD

🛑 RECREATIONAL OFF-ROAD VEHICLE USE ON CROWN LAND IS NOW PROHIBITED

A BC Wildfire Service Equipment and Activities Prohibition Order is now in effect for our area, including the Thompson Rivers Forest District.

The order came into effect at 12:00 noon on August 10, 2026.

The prohibition includes recreational use of ATVs, off-road motorcycles, side-by-sides and other off-road vehicles on Crown land.

There are exemptions outlined within the order, including certain vehicles travelling on defined roads and ORV use for specified agricultural, emergency-response and commercial/industrial purposes.

The recreational ORV prohibition does NOT apply to private land.

Please familiarize yourself with the current BC Wildfire Service restrictions and where they apply before heading out.

🔥 EXTREME CAUTION IS NEEDED WITH VEHICLES & EQUIPMENT

Our vegetation is extremely dry, and it doesn’t take an open flame to start a wildfire. Heat and a single spark can be enough.

For activities that are still permitted:

• Never park or operate hot vehicles or equipment over dry grass or vegetation
• Check equipment regularly for anything that could create excessive heat or sparks
• Use extreme caution when grinding, welding or cutting metal outdoors
• Be cautious with weed-whackers, brush cutters, lawn mowers, chainsaws and other small engines
• Keep an adequate water supply or fire extinguisher nearby when doing work that could create heat or sparks
• Stop immediately if conditions make the activity unsafe

If it can create flame, heat or sparks, think before you start.

🚨 SEE SMOKE OR A WILDFIRE? REPORT IT IMMEDIATELY

📱 *From a cell phone: *5555
☎️ Toll-free: 1-800-663-5555

Please don’t assume someone else has already reported it.

🏠 BE PREPARED BEFORE YOU NEED TO BE

Those of us who live here know how quickly wildfire conditions can change. An evacuation alert or order can come with very little notice.

Take some time now to:

✅ Have your Grab-and-Go Bag ready
✅ Know where you would go and how you would get there
✅ Have medications, important documents and essentials ready
✅ Have a plan for your pets and livestock
✅ Check on a neighbour who may need some help preparing

❤️ FireSmart is about more than protecting our own property. It’s about looking out for our neighbours and protecting our entire community.

The choices each of us makes during these extremely dry conditions can make a difference.

Questions or concerns?

Chris Walker
Fire Prevention Officer
Pritchard & Monte Creek Fire Departments

🌲 Protect your home. Protect your neighbours. Protect Pritchard.

— Pritchard FireSmart

📲 Please follow and share the Pritchard FireSmart page and encourage your neighbours to do the same.

We’ll continue sharing accurate important wildfire information, local updates, restrictions and preparedness information as conditions change.

08/10/2026

🌲 REMINDER — CHIPPING DAY IS TOMORROW! 🌲

For everyone who has registered for our FireSmart Chipping Day, please have your branches ready for Tuesday, August 11.

🪵 Please remember:
✅ Place branches at the roadside where they are easy to access.
✅ Butt ends facing OUT toward the road and all facing the same direction.
✅ Keep piles neat and manageable.
✅ Please follow the chipping guidelines provided when you registered.

Thank you to everyone taking part and helping make our neighbourhood a little more FireSmart. ❤️🔥

See you tomorrow!

08/09/2026

🎒 Have You Packed Your Grab-and-Go Bag Yet?

With wildfire activity continuing across British Columbia, now is the time to make sure everyone in your household is prepared—including your pets.

Here in Pritchard, many of us know firsthand how quickly conditions can change. If an evacuation alert or order is issued, having a grab-and-go bag ready can make those first stressful moments a little easier.

The best time to prepare is before you need to leave.

You don’t have to pack everything at once. Start with the basics:

✅ Food and water
✅ Medications
✅ Important documents
✅ Phone charger & battery bank
✅ Flashlight & extra batteries
✅ Seasonal clothing
✅ First aid kit
✅ Cash in small bills
✅ Personal toiletries
✅ Whistle & radio
✅ Pet food, medications, and supplies

Every small step you take today is one less thing to worry about tomorrow.

❤️ Being FireSmart isn’t just about protecting our own homes—it’s about looking out for our neighbors, too.

Take a few minutes to check in with a friend, an elderly neighbor, or someone who may need a hand getting prepared. Sometimes a simple conversation is all it takes to help someone feel ready.

Because that’s what our community does.

🌲 Neighbors helping neighbors.
🌲 Preparing together.
🌲 Building a stronger, more resilient community—together.

❤️ A prepared neighborhood is a safer neighborhood. Let’s help each other get ready.

For the complete Grab-and-Go Bag checklist, visit:

https://preparedbc.ca/grab-and-go

08/06/2026

🌲 WOOD CHIPPING DAY IS THIS TUESDAY ! 🌲

📞 To register, call the TNRD FireSmart Team at 250-377-6326.

Great news, Pritchard! Our FREE FireSmart Wood Chipping Day is happening Tuesday,, August 11, and there’s still time to add your property to the list.

If you’ve been clearing brush, pruning trees, or removing shrubs, this is a great opportunity to dispose of woody debris while making your property more FireSmart.

To help the day run smoothly:

✅ Place your brush at the end of your driveway the night before pickup.
✅ Stack it neatly with the butt ends facing the road.
✅ Keep the pile free of rocks and dirt.
✅ Branches should be no larger than 5 inches (12 cm) in diameter.

❤️ Thank you to everyone who has already registered! There’s still room for more neighbours to take advantage of this free service, so if you’ve been thinking about it, give the TNRD FireSmart Team a call today.

Every branch chipped is one less source of fuel around our homes. Small actions like this help make our entire community more resilient.

Let’s keep looking out for one another—one property at a time. 🌲💚

08/03/2026

🌲 WOOD CHIPPING DAY IS CONFIRMED! 🌲

Great news, Pritchard!

Our FireSmart Wood Chipping Day has been confirmed for Monday, August 11.

If you’ve been clearing brush, pruning trees, or removing shrubs around your property, this is a great opportunity to dispose of that woody debris while helping reduce wildfire risk in our community.

To help the chipping day run smoothly:
✔️ Place your debris at the end of your driveway the night before pickup.
✔️ Stack it with the butt ends facing the road.
✔️ Ensure the pile is free of rocks and dirt.
✔️ Branches should be no larger than approximately 5 inches in diameter.

👉 Registration is required.

To register or for more information, contact the TNRD FireSmart Team:

📞 250-377-6326
📧 [email protected]

Let’s work together to make Pritchard safer and more FireSmart—one property at a time.