Crews are burning piles on the west side of Williams Lake to help reduce the wildfire hazard in the area.
On April 1, smoke is visible from the city's downtown, as fuel management and risk reduction work takes place.
The project is set to continue throughout 2024 and into 2025, depending on weather conditions and aims to reduce the threat of wildfire to homes, structures and recreation values, as well as to improve and maintain the grassland ecosystems present in the area. The total area of fuel treatment works is 68 hectares.
“The intent is to create a healthier, more open forest that will not support aggressive wildfires and will be safer for crews to fight wildfires in,” said Evan Dean, director of Protective Services and Williams Lake Fire Department chief.
Lorena Tillotson, a wildfire risk reduction planner with Forsite Consultants, said the pile burning is just one part of the city's wildfire mitigation work and the small piles were what was left after other fibre was sent to Atlantic Power.
Specific fuel management treatment activities may include:
• Danger tree removal
• High retention partial harvesting
• Spacing and pruning of the understory conifer trees
• Surface fuel clean-up
• Pile burning and/or chipping of cut material
Residents and motorists travelling through the city may see smoke and flames during project operations.
Funding for the project was secured through the Province’s Community Resiliency Investment Program and is a continuation of work started in 2022.
With files from Andie Mollins
