An extended drought has driven the fire risk to extreme, with municipal officials introducing sweeping bans on barbecues and cooking stoves in Lower Mainland parks and green spaces.

All 23 regional parks administered under Metro Vancouver, including Grouse Mountain, Tynehead, Pacific Spirit and Burnaby Lake, are under extreme fire risk due to “continued dry weather (that) has resulted in conditions that are tinder dry and extremely sensitive to sparks and fire.”