A fire in the Kimberley Nature Park Duck Pond area over the weekend never reached more than one hectare, says Kimberley Fire Chief Rick Prasad.
“We had eleven people working on the fire, as well as three from the BC Wildfire Service,” Prasad said. “It was not out of control, it was mainly a ground fire.”
Prasad says that the fire was likely a “creeping pile”. Kimberley Fire Department had been doing fuels management work earlier in the year, burning piles in that area.
“We noticed it getting quite dry before Easter,” Prasad said. “And we stopped burning piles.”
He says this particular pile smouldered for a couple of weeks and then flared up again as the weather grew quite warm over the weekend.
“Crews are on it again today, and will be monitoring the piles. I have walked the whole perimeter” Prasad said.
“We’d like to thank the public for calling and letting us know they could see something. Don’t stop calling if you think you see a fire.”
Prasad says that these piles were in an area where fuels management treatment had been done and he credits that work to the fire being able to be controlled more easily.
“We didn’t get aggressive fire behaviour and it was not as difficult to manage.”
This area is scheduled for more treatment work, including controlled ignition, likely next fall as the City has received $700,000 for fuel management work on city lands.
READ: City receives $700,000 for fuel managment work
READ: Fuel management work beginning
It’s also a reminder, Prasad says, that conditions are very dry.
“We haven’t had any spring rains yet and the forest is dry. We had less snow this winter and what snow we did have ran off while the ground was still frozen.”