Kamloops, BC – The City of Kamloops and Kamloops Fire Rescue would like to inform residents that fuel management treatments have begun for the 2020/2021 season.
Contractors will be working in Pineview Valley, Westsyde, and Kenna Cartwright Park over the next few months to complete wildfire reduction work. The public is asked to please respect work sites and obey all posted signs for their own safety and that of the workers.
Specific objectives for these fuel management treatments are the following:
- to maintain a forested ecosystem with good visuals and aesthetics
- to reduce the wildfire threat to the local community by removing dead trees, spacing trees, and pruning limbs that are close to the ground
- to retain and enhance unique wildlife habitat features
- to create safer wildfire suppression opportunities
- Small burn piles will be used to remove debris. These will be monitored at all times and will only be ignited on good venting days to limit any smoke impacts.
What does fuel management treatment consist of?
- Danger tree removal – 99% of dead stems—other than designated and marked wildlife trees—are felled.
- Wildlife tree retention – All designated wildlife trees are marked, assessed, and placed in “no work” zones when necessary before crew work begins in the area. Pine and fir trees more than 35 cm in diameter are placed in “no work” zones and retained whenever possible.
- Pruning – 99% of conifers over 3 m tall are pruned.
- Thinning – The appropriate spacing regime—which ranges from 2 m to 4 m between trees—is used in the treatment area.
- Debris Piling – Over 90% of debris from 0.5 cm to 15 cm in diameter and 100% of spaced conifer stems are collected and placed in burn piles.
- Pile Burning – The burned piles will be at least 98% consumed.
In general, properly planned and implemented forest fuel reduction work reduces the potential of crown fires (fires that advance at great speed along treetops) and the overall intensity of wildfires within the treatment area. This work will increase the survivability of the trees in the stand and of adjacent homes and structures.
