VICTORIA -- After issuing warnings about the threat of wildfires this season, British Columbia's Conservation Service handed out 19 tickets over the long weekend to people who flouted a campfire ban that covers much of the province.
Chris Doyle, the deputy chief with the service, says each of those caught were issued $1,150 tickets.
Doyle says ignorance isn't an excuse because the campfire ban and fire danger has been very well promoted through the media, on social media and with signage.
He says it would be difficult for anyone heading into the woods to know that there isn't a campfire ban in place.
There were more than 140 wildfires burning in the province on Wednesday.
The BC Fire Service says on average, 40 per cent of fires are caused by humans.
