The B.C. Wildfire Service says they responded to several new wildfires Friday, and at least one blaze thought to be contained is now burning out of control.
A two-year project to reduce the risk of wildfire west of Clinton is almost finished.
Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. operations manager Ray Raatz says fuel mitigation has been done in three areas near Big Bar Lake, totalling 50-90 hectares in size. He says all that’s left to do is slash pile burning.
He says some of the forest stands treated there were “very similar” to stands that burned in the Elephant Hill wildfire, which charred 192,000 hectares of land in 2017, in the Thompson Plateau and southern Cariboo.
“It was really around getting stands that were in that area significantly reduced for wildfire risk. That involved thinning out trees, pruning trees, doing a whole lot of piling of fuels that were on the ground and getting them out of the bush. And so what you end up with is a much cleaner forest floor, and a much more fire-resilient stand,” Raatz says.
Photo courtesy FESBC.
Zanzibar Holdings Ltd. and the community of Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation (St-wet-lem hight-lem) (SXFN) have partnered to reduce wildfire risk to the rural communities of Big Bar Lake, B.C., with funding support from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC (FESBC).
FESBC provided close to $625,000 toward two projects in the Cariboo region, both of which are nearing completion and are focused on reducing wildfire risk in forested areas near Big Bar Lake, which is located approximately 40 kilometres west of Clinton, B.C. The areas were identified as priorities for wildfire risk mitigation by the 100 Mile House Resource District.