Three prescribed burns are planned for this fall in the Invermere area.
A burn at District Lot 4616 is expected to take place between Sept. 15 and Sept. 30, and is expected to occur over a 48-hour period, followed by 3 to 5 days of mop-up and site monitoring.
The BC Wildfire Service, Invermere Fire Rescue and the Ministry of Forest will be treating 24.1 hectares of land within an allowable burn area of 49.3 hectares.
If conditions are not suitable this fall, the project may be postponed to spring 2026.
Prescribed burns are also planned for the Toby North and Wilmer North areas.
Timelines for those projects haven’t been set.
RDEK board chair Rob Gay said these burns have become necessary due to the past firefighting techniques.
“For basically the last 100 years our mandate has been to put out fires before they start,” he added.
“We’ve created a situation where we have way more fuel out there and you can’t get these light low-impact burns anymore, you get more intense ones.”
Residents can expect smoke and flames in the area during operations.
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