The City of Kimberley will bolster its defences against wildfires thanks to a $311,369 grant from the Forest Enhancement Society of British Columbia.
The work will include manual hand treatment of 39.2 hectares of forest in the wildland-urban interface zone west of Kimberley.
“This is a thinning, piling and slash burning project. We’ve identified six units within the valley or just south of it, and we’re just trying to treat those to build on a larger future project, covering 140 hectares,” said Fire Chief Will Booth.
“We’re working toward a prescribed burn in that area to create an even larger buffer on the western flank of the city.”
Mayor Don McCormick says he is pleased to see progress in Kimberley’s defence against wildfires.
“We have been working, through our wildfire consultant, very successfully with the BC Wildfire Service for fuel management in our area, not just within the city limits, but out to the west of Kimberley as well,” said McCormick.
“If we were to have a wildfire, that’s where the risk would come from.”
Booth says the city will continue to try securing all the funding it can for wildfire mitigation.
“It seems that there is more and more funding for wildfire risk reduction, and we’re going to try to maximize all the grants that become available,” said Booth.
The exact timing of the project has not been announced yet, but the city anticipates work to begin some time this year, with a due date of March 15, 2026.
Be the first to know! Don’t miss out on breaking news and daily updates in your area. Sign up to MyEastKootenayNow News Alerts.
