KELOWNA – The BC Wildfire Service and Westbank First Nation plan to conduct a Cultural and Prescribed Fire burn in the McCulloch area.

Preparations will begin the week of March 4, 2024, with the burn scheduled to take place as early as March 11, 2024. The exact timing of the burn and prep work will be dependent on local weather and venting conditions. Ignitions will proceed only if conditions are suitable to allow for quick smoke dissipation.

This phase of the burn is part of a larger ongoing project that covers 86 hectares. The target area for this year’s burn will be approximately 40 hectares.

Westbank First Nation and the BC Wildfire Service will carefully control and continuously monitor the burn throughout the duration of the project. Smoke may be visible from Kelowna, West Kelowna and possibly Lake Country.

This burn will provide critical cross training opportunities for staff of Westbank First Nation and the BC Wildfire Service. The purpose of this cultural and prescribed burn is to reduce the build up of dead grass, increasing the productivity of traditional foods and improving winter grazing for wildlife. This prescribed burn will improve public safety through a reduction in fuel loading (standing and surface fuel) within the wildland urban interface (WUI). This provides a level of community protection from wildfire and supports the traditional use of fire as a tool to improve the landscape.

Learn More:

For more information on the importance of cultural burning and prescribed fire, please visit prescribedfire.ca.

Contact:

Fire Information Officer
Kamloops Fire Centre
BC Wildfire Service
250 554-5965
BCWS.KFCInformationOfficer@gov.bc.ca