City cancels prescribed burn in Foothills area

VERNON – A prescribed burn on City of Vernon land in the Foothills area has been cancelled.

The burn was planned to take place this month, but due to the rain plants have "greened up" quickly, meaning a burn in these conditions wouldn't see worthwhile results, according to City of Vernon media release.

The City, working with the B.C. Wildfire Service and BX Swan Lake Fire Rescue, had delivered information about the burn to residents in the area and made preparations on the 10-acre site.

The areas of the site would benefit from additional mechanical thinning to reduce undergrowth and help trees and brush to better resist fire, the City says. Preparation of the site will continue and a burn will take place in the fall or next spring depending on the conditions.

"Prescribed burning is an important tool in managing fuel loads in the Wildland Urban Interface. In the absence of fire, wildlands become over grown and unhealthy. Fires that do occur in untreated lands during extreme hazard conditions can result in fast moving and hot fires which damage the ecosystem and present serious risks to our community," Vernon fire chief Dave Lind said in the release.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.