B.C. may ban backcountry travel

The B.C. government may ban all backcountry travel if the wildfire hazard across the province continues to increase.

B.C. Forests Minister Pat Bell issued an advisory Tuesday recommending residents and visitors stay off the back roads unless absolutely necessary.

"A cold front is expected to work its way through the province [Wednesday] morning, bringing strong, gusty winds, lightning and little precipitation throughout [the day] and into Thursday," Bell said.

"We have a lot of uncontained large fires burning in the Northwest, Cariboo and Prince George regions. When you add strong winds, it makes an already difficult situation that much worse."

Bell said the advisory could turn into an outright ban: "We may step this up to a formal order requiring people not to travel in the backcountry."

In the Cariboo, many backcountry travellers were already heeding the warnings.

Mike Allan, a member of an off-road club in Prince George, said he agrees with the advisory.

"It's very scary out there right now," Allan said. "That wood is tinder-dry and we are very aware that if something happened out there — if a fire burst out — we would not be able to get out of there fast enough."

Allan said a recent trip was a real eye-opener.

"Every single day there was a forest fire somewhere around us," he said. "They were just popping up everywhere."

Allan said he and his off-road friends likely will not be heading out again this year.

"In previous years you can normally off-road until the snow flies, and the way it's standing right now we're finished for the year."