Human-Caused Grass Fires Spark 2014 Fire Season
Prince George, BC – While the march towards spring-like conditions may seem like a slow one, the BC Wildfire Management Branch is urging caution, with a number of grass fires already sparked in the region…
The Cariboo Fire Centre has responded to seven wildfires since the beginning of the month. Fire Information Officer, Emily Koch, says all were human-caused and the result of careless fire use.
Koch says, in total, approximately 20-hectares has been burned. She says 16 fire and first aid personnel were called out on Wednesday to deal with a 4.2-hectare blaze, near Hanceville, west of Williams Lake. Five personnel were on-site yesterday, working to completely extinguish the fire.
On the same evening, forest fire crews were dealing with a two-hectare fire on the Tl’esqox-t’in Reserve. Koch says RCMP and BC Hydro also responded and continue to investigate.
The Prince George Fire Centre received multiple reports this past week about three grass fires sparked in the Peace Region. Fire Information Officer, Jillian Kelsh, says they, too, were human-caused.
Kelsh says as the snow melts, it doesn’t take long for the exposed grass to dry out and become flammable, especially in windy conditions. “Members of the public are urged to exercise caution when doing any outdoor burning,” she says. “Most wildfires at this time of year occur when people conduct open burns when it is unsafe to do so.”
Homeowners and industry personnel are encouraged to go to the Wildfire Management Branch website, at www.bcwildfire.ca/Prevention, to consult the BC FireSmart manual and to check with their local fire department and municipality for any restrictions, before conducting an open burn.
Comments
What is it with torching off the grass in the spring? Any reading I’ve done suggests that it’s a myth that it’s beneficial as it actually destroys much of the good stuff from decomposing vegetation, etc. And it seems to be a First Nations thing… the more common rite of spring is to see the big red trucks hosing down the fires and the big white ones replacing burned up power poles. Is this a cultural practice?
I think you better do more research. It has been practised for years by indigenous peoples around the world. It only burns up the top layer of dead grass and all the stuff that makes up organic matter that returns to the soil is still left to do it’s thing. Take a look at a field that has been burned in the spring and a field that hasn’t, the one that has the top layer burned off is greener and healthier a lot faster and grows thicker.
A little hard to burn my lawn when it’s still covered in snow!
Fire totally helps the vegetation to grow back. It’s crazy people and businesses that burn during windy conditions because they have no common sense to think wind and fire equals disaster and the attitude of “nothing can happen to me”. Then it’s too late.
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