A prescribed burn is set to get underway today, Wednesday Oct. 5, near the Phillips Reservoir in Cranbrook.
The City of Cranbrook and the BC Wildfire Service will be conducting the burn along Gold Creek Road south of the reservoir.
The burn will be a large operation, the City says, as the fire will be ignited by helicopters and will treat approximately 100 hectares of land.
“The prescribed burn is taking place on City-owned land, south of the City, and forms an important piece of our larger, community wildfire protection strategy,” said Scott Driver, Director of Cranbrook Fire and Emergency Services. “We feel very fortunate that the weather this fall has cooperated so that we can continue to get this very important work completed.”
Smoke will be visible from Cranbrook, ʔaq’am and surrounding areas.
The goals of the burn are to reduce accumulations of dead wood and other combustable material, to promote ecological biodiversity by suppressing growth of regenerating trees and to reduce wildfire severity.
“Fire is a very normal and natural process in this ecosystem,” the City said. “It is the City’s intention to return the landscape to a healthy, fire resistive state.”