The Kimberley Fire Department has been working on their Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) for quite some time now and after several updates, the plan was officially presented to Kimberley City Council on Monday, July 9, 2018.
The report is extensive and details both the history and future of wildfire management in Kimberley.
As the report states, the primary goal of the CWPP update is to include new parcels of City-owned land as part of a property transfer from Teck resources. The primary objectives are to assess relative fire hazard for each parcel and prioritize treatment.
“The report clarifies some of the areas that we want to treat,” explained Fire Chief Rick Prasad. “There is a list of priority areas. From there as well, it gives us an idea of how to treat them and more of a structured plan and approach. Although, when we look at this we’ve seen some areas of drought kill that we didn’t expect this year, which can add to the fuel load. It can dry up and cause a real threat to us so we’ll be looking at maybe adding to that as we go along.”
For example, the Kimberley Highway, 8th Avenue, Taylor Slough South, and Railway Museum have all been identified as extreme in the wildfire behaviour threat class. Other areas of concern include Wallinger Avenue, Swan Avenue, Mark Creek north, Knighton Road, Forest Crown, Riverside, Northstar, 300 Street, and more.
With areas such as these, the Fire Department plans to go in and prune trees, remove dead stems, and clean up surface accumulations.
“Overall the plan is there with some updated climate data. There’s not much of a change from our prior plan, except for including some properties that were not originally in the 2015 report,” said Prasad.
Councillor Darryl Oakley asked if there would be public education on the report, and how that will be rolled out.
Prasad explained that in the past the Fire Department has tried to educate the public in the winter time, which hasn’t always worked.
“No one is thinking about wildfires in the winter,” he said. “This year we’re looking at something in the warmer weather, we’re hoping in August, while wildfire is on the radar.”
He adds that the CWPP is an “important document” that not everyone is aware of or takes the time to review.
“That being said, it speaks to the fact that maybe the community has faith in the work we’re doing,” Prasad said. “There are questions and understanding.”
He says the department will be watching the fire season to see how it goes, and will be planning an information session for the public in the coming months.
For a full copy of the report visit the City of Kimberley website and click on the agenda for Monday, July 9, 2018.