The Regional District of Central Okanagan says there will be controlled burns of wood debris at two regional parks today.
One burn site will be the southern portion of Glen Canyon Regional Park in West Kelowna. This is to dispose of fire hazard debris collected as part of a large fuel modification project on just over 15-hectares between the trail entrances at Hebert and Brown Roads and Westbank Centre Park, south to the Gellatly Road parking area.
Crews are also burning collected wood debris just outside Peachland in Trepanier Creek Greenway Regional Park south of the Okanagan Connector. Several hundred piles are located along a 2.5-kilometre section of the park and were collected in the clean-up following the 2012 Trepanier wildfire. Today’s burning has been authorized with appropriate permits from West Kelowna Fire/Rescue and other authorities for fire fuel hazard reduction and a custom venting forecast from the B.C. Wildfire Service which predicts good venting conditions at each regional park site, even though open burning is not allowed today in the Central Okanagan.
Further controlled burns will likely be required to dispose of fire hazard debris collected in an ongoing multi-year fuel modification project by the B.C. Wildfire Service on a 10-hectare section of Rose Valley Regional Park north of Pettman and Bowes Roads in West Kelowna.