Prescribed Burns near Nelson BC

News from the BC government about prescribed burns in my local area. If it is the area I'm thinking of, it will be a good treatment because it's a north aspect site with high slash levels. It will definitely help for tree planting and reduce fuels, and therefore fire risk. The weather has been cool and wet lately, so if they can get a burn going it should be easy to control.

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PRESCRIBED BURNS ASSIST REFORESTATION NEAR NELSON

NELSON – The public is advised that the Ministry of Forests and Range will conduct prescribed fires for the Sproule/Rixen Creek area between April 30 and May 15, weather permitting.

The burns will cover an estimated 20 hectares about 12 kilometres west of Nelson. All prescribed fires are carefully managed and must comply with the open burning smoke control regulation under the Environmental Management Act. Experienced fire crews will be on site to ensure the fires are properly extinguished.

Prescribed burns help prepare harvested forest land for replanting by adding nutrients to the soil and maximizing areas for optimal seedling growth. They also expand forage sites for deer and reduce interface fire risks by removing hazardous debris from forests surrounding communities.

The burns are being conducted by the Ministry of Forests and Range.



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Forest fires near Nelson BC

Smoke could be seen over the mountains to the north of Nelson BC in the afternoon on friday. From what I've heard there are two or more fires burning in areas near Nelson and Kaslo. Schroeder Creek and Sitkum Creek were two locations named. There wasn't really any smoke in Nelson, but tomorrow could be different. Hot weather is in the forecast for the next week at least. When you drive into Nelson from any direction you can see the dry, dead, red foliage of pine trees in the surrounding mountains. The conditions are almost perfect for forest fire activity. A forest fire fighter was interviewed on the news tonight, and he mentioned how difficult it was to fight fire in dead pine stands. The dry standing timber burns too hot and fast, making control efforts that much harder.

Extreme forest fire risk in southern BC

The forest fire hazard is at or close to extreme in southern BC, at least around Nelson where I live. We've had 30+ degree days for over a week now, and forests must be well dried out. If you look at the mountains from anywhere in Nelson, you can see the bright red trees that are dead from mountain pine beetle or douglas-fir beetle. I have some photos that I will be posting here in the next week that shows the red clusters on the hillsides. I haven't seen the news today to know if there are any forest fires in the area, didn't seem like there was any smoke outside today. Tomorrow there is thunder/lightning in the forecast, and yesterday evening a thunderstorm rolled through that didn't carry much rain. Unless we are real lucky or get a change in weather, the area is unfortunately ripe for forest fire activity.