Author: ccerc.net
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations BC Wildfire Service, Information Bulletin
WILLIAMS LAKE – BC Wildfire Service personnel are responding to wildfires that were started by recent lightning activity in the Cariboo Fire Centre.
The largest of these fires is about 17 kilometres south of the Sheep Creek bridge over the Fraser River and covers about 20 hectares. Eleven firefighters are en route to this fire and a helicopter is supporting fire-suppression efforts.
The BC Wildfire Service thanks the public for the many fire reports it received after Monday’s lightning storm. More lightning activity is in the weather forecast for today. The BC Wildfire Service is conducting patrol flights throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre to confirm the location of reported fires and detect new ones that may have started in remote areas.
The patrols will continue this week, since lightning-caused fires can smoulder in wet conditions and only become visible when nearby combustible material dries out and ignites. These are called “holdover” fires.
For example, crews responded to one fire over the weekend that was started by lightning about 10 days before it was detected. The fire was 25 kilometres north of Forest Grove, covered 0.6 hectares and is now 100% contained. Crews are currently patrolling this fire to put out any remaining hot spots. This was the only wildfire in the Cariboo Fire Centre during the Williams Lake Stampede weekend.
To report smoke, flames or an unattended campfire, call 1 800 663-5555toll-free or dial *5555 on a cellphone.
For up-to-date information on current wildfire activity, burning restrictions, road closures and air-quality advisories, visit: www.bcwildfire.ca or call 1 888 3-FOREST.
You can follow the latest wildfire news:
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Media Contact:
Emily Epp
Fire Information Officer
BC Wildfire Service
Cariboo Fire Centre
Connect with the Province of B.C. at: www.gov.bc.ca/connect
Information bulletin – ecosystem restoration projects scheduled to be completed between April 3 and mid-May, 2014
Prescribed burns to help restore Cariboo grasslands
INFORMATION BULLETIN
April 1, 2014
WILLIAMS LAKE – The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations is planning a
series of ecosystem restoration burns west and south of Williams Lake between April 3 and
mid-May 2014, weather conditions permitting.
These prescribed burns are managed under the Ecosystem Restoration Program within the
ministry’s Range Branch and will be conducted with the assistance of staff from the Wildfire
Management Branch’s Cariboo Fire Centre.
Sites within the following areas will be treated to help restore native grassland ecosystems:
• Beecher’s Prairie (Highway 20 at the Toosey turnoff), approximately 80 hectares
• Bald Mountain (south of Riske Creek), approximately 120 hectares
• Deer Creek (Alexis Creek area), approximately 100 hectares
• Crow’s Bar (Fraser River area south of Dog Creek), approximately 1,750 hectares
• Ward Creek (Fraser River area north of Gang Ranch), approximately 400 hectares
These ecosystem restoration burns were originally scheduled to take place in fall 2013, but
they were not completed due to unsuitable burning conditions at the time.
Historically, grasslands in the Cariboo-Chilcotin were renewed through frequent, low-intensity
ground fires. Such fires prevented tree encroachment, rejuvenated understory plants and
maintained more open grasslands and forests with large trees. The reintroduction of managed,
low-intensity ground fires to these grasslands is intended to restore and maintain the
traditional grassland plant communities that are native to these areas.
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource
Operations
Cariboo Fire Centre
Connect with the Province of B.C. at: www.gov.bc.ca/connect
Hugh Flinton
Ecosystem Restoration
Range Branch
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural
Resource Operations
250 267-8746
These fires are part of an ongoing ecosystem restoration program administered by the
provincial government in consultation with First Nations, local ranchers, the B.C. Wildlife
Federation and the Cariboo-Chilcotin Conservation Society.
February/March issue of TheGreenGazette
The Ecosystem Restoration Committee has published an article in the February/March issue of The Green Gazette.