Campfires are once again permitted in southwestern B.C.

Effective at noon today (September 11), the provincial government said that residents and tourists can once again roast marshmallows in the area it calls the Coastal Fire Centre.

"The use of tiki torches, chimineas, and stoves and portable campfire apparatuses that are not CSA-approved or ULC-approved will also be permitted," reads a B.C. Wildfire Service media release. "However, local governments may still have their own burning restrictions in place, so people should always check with local authorities before lighting any fire of any size."

A moratorium on larger fires as well as on grass burning remains in effect.

The campfire ban was announced on July 17 and remained in place for the summer.

The 2018 wildfire season was one of the worst ever recorded in B.C.

So far in the fiscal year 2018, the province has seen 2,061 wildfires burn 1.3 million hectares.

A state of emergency was declared on August 15 and remained in effect until September 7.

https://twitter.com/BCGovFireInfo/status/1039543779529646082

This year is only one of two in the last 10 where B.C. saw more than one million hectares lost to wildfires. The other was 2017.

In all of 2017, there were an estimated 1,353 wildfires in B.C. and 1.21 million hectares burned.

The 10-year average for hectares burned annually is 151,000.

A July 2017 release from the provincial government notes that year's fires—which were recorded as "the worst in generations"—were due, "in large part," to climate change.