Prince George, B.C.- Weather permitting, there will be prescribed burns  started today  in the Bevel Mountain and Ospika River areas in the Mackenzie Natural Resource District.

These controlled burns will cover about 12,000 hectares and are designed to  help  reduce  fire fuels in the area.

If the weather  is favourable,  the burns will start today and  carry on through to  May 20th and will be done in phases, starting at lower elevations in the southern areas and moving northward to higher elevations.
* The Bevel Mountain burn area covers about 7,754 hectares, about 100 kilometres north of Mackenzie.

* The Ospika River burn area covers about 3,400 hectares over six sites, about 125 kilometres north of Mackenzie.

BC Wildfire Service personnel will be carefully monitoring  these controlled fires.