Pile burning planned for Foothills area
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The City of Vernon is advising residents they may see smoke in the Foothillls area this week.
Starting Wednesday (July 22), Fire Rescue Services will be working with a contractor to conduct fuel management work (pile burning) on city-owned land to reduce the fire risk, and return the area to a more natural state.
“We started this fuel management project in 2019,” said Fire Chief David Lind. “Originally, we had cleaned up the site by removing debris and thinning out the trees and vegetation. We planned to do a prescribed burn with permission from the province that same year; however, we were unable to get suitable weather conditions. We hoped to complete the prescribed burn again this past spring, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a province-wide burn ban was put in place.”
A portion of that ban has since been lifted by the province, and category 2 small pile burning is currently permitted. This allows VFRS to take the next step in the fuel management project, with a larger prescribed burn anticipated at a future date, when conditions are appropriate.
