With the recent drier weather, the Parksville Volunteer Fire Department is warning people about the dangers of landscape bark mulch.
Over the past few weeks, according to a news release from the City of Parksville and the PVFD, the department has seen “a significant increase in the number of fires occurring in landscaping mulch.”
“Bark mulch, commonly used as ground cover, can become a fire hazard, particularly in hot, dry conditions. Mulch fires occur year-round but primarily in the summer when there is little rainfall,” according to a release from the city.
The release states that fires starting in mulch can very quickly spread to surrounding shrubbery and then to the buildings.
Factors such as below-average rainfall, extremely dry conditions, warm temperatures, and abnormal winds increase the risk of serious damage from mulch fires. Often, this burning mulch is up against the side of a residential or commercial structure, where it is likely to be unnoticed.
This burning/smoldering mulch may eventually ignite the underneath of the siding, decking, plantings or such, and then spread into the structural components of the building, causing extensive damage.
Another key factor in the increase of mulch fires has been the prohibition on smoking indoors which can lead to discarded lighted smoking materials, including matches, into the landscaped areas around buildings and can be the cause of ignition for many mulch fires.
“With the hot, dry conditions of summer months, residents are encouraged to keep the bark mulch moist and ideally provide a minimum of an 18-inch clearance between landscaping mulched beds and combustible building materials.”
With that, the City of Parksville is also reminding residents to observe Stage 2 watering times.
Stage 2 allows sprinkling every other day based on odd and even house numbers between the hours of 7-10 a.m. or 7-10 p.m. for a maximum of two hours per day. Hand watering, drip irrigation and watering of vegetable gardens are permitted any time. These times also apply to multi-unit strata developments unless issued a special permit from the City of Parksville.
During May, with the warm dry weather, the City has observed water reservoir levels dropping throughout the night when they should be refilling. Generally, this can be attributed to the use of automatic sprinkler systems at night which is in contravention of Stage 2 watering times.
Should the city continue to find water reservoir levels are not refilling, it may become necessary to move to further restrictions; Stage 3 or Stage 4.Further restrictions which would be necessary to ensure water demands for essential household use, fire protection, environmental flows and irrigation purposes will continue to be met during the hot dry season.
— NEWS Staff, City of Parksville news release
