Masset got its first wildfire danger sign in May and there are plans to put a second one along Tow Hill Road toward Agate Beach.
Installed near the Masset visitor information centre, the sign shows whether the area has a low, moderate, high or extreme risk of wildfire. Similar signs are posted in Sandspit, Daajing Giids, Skidegate, and Tlell.
So far this season, the Masset wildfire danger rating has varied between low, moderate and high.
Jevan Gowler, chief of the Masset Volunteer Fire Department, said such signs track the local wildfire risk as determined daily by the Coastal Fire Centre.
Anyone who sees a wildfire should report it by calling *5555 on a cellphone or 1-800-663-5555 toll-free, he said.
Gowler said the wildfire danger sign does not show whether or not any open-burning bans are in place.
That confused some people in Masset who earlier this summer started burning a large pile of yard waste because the wildfire rating was low.
In fact, the current ban on Category 2 and 3 open-burn piles is expected to last until Oct. 31.
Category 2 fires are large, single burn piles up to three metres wide and two metres high. Category 3 fires are either larger than that, or they involve several piles, and they have to be registered. They are usually lit by farmers, ranchers or forestry companies.
Gowler said people on Haida Gwaii should generally expect Category 2 and 3 fire bans every May to October.
But as of Aug. 12, people can still have a controlled campfire on Haida Gwaii.
That is partly due to wet weather, Gowler said, but also because people here tend to follow good campfire practice.
“We’re grateful to everyone for doing that,” he said, noting that for parts of this summer Haida Gwaii has been the only place in B.C. where campfires have been allowed.
“Let’s keep it that way,” he added.
Haida Gwaii is part of the Coastal Fire Centre, not the Northwest Fire Centre. The Coastal Fire Centre is one of six regional fire centres in B.C. and covers the Central Coast, Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland.