Wildfire Service waiting for dry weather for controlled burn

A controlled burn slated for a section of forest west of Grand Forks will not go ahead this week, according to a forest ministry official.

Lisa Tedesco, an eco-systems biologist with the ministry’s resource operations team, said the BC Wildfire Service is waiting for a stretch of warmer, drier weather before the burn goes ahead in the Gibbs Creek area. The roughly 36 hectare burn is designed to reduce the risk of area wildfires while providing winter foraging grounds for local deer and elk.

The burn area will span a section of forest selectively harvested over the winter of 2015-2016 by Greenwood and Midway’s West Boundary Community Forest.

BC Wildfire Service staff from Grand Forks will have firefighting systems ready to go in case of an emergency. Tedesco said staff will have meanwhile established a fire buffer through a series of control measures, including small controlled burns.

Smoke from the larger burn will be visible from Grand Forks and parts of Greenwood, the Wildfire Service advised in a news release Tuesday, April 6.

@ltritsch1 laurie.tritschler@grandforksgazette.caLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.