Prince George, B.C. – Starting today and running to June 30, the BC Wildfire Service will be conducting a series of ecosystem restoration burns in the West Parsnip area of the Mackenzie Resource District, weather permitting.

“These controlled burns will occur at about the 52.3-kilometre mark on the West Parsnip Forest Service Road (about 60 kilometres northwest of Mackenzie) and will cover about 40 kilometres,” says Prince George Fire Centre fire information officer Amanda Reynolds.

She adds BC Wildfire personnel and other ministry staff will be carefully monitoring the fires at all times.

Reynolds says the burns will help restore ecosystems and maintain plant communities that are native to the area.They will also reduce accumulations of forest fuels and decrease the risk of wildfires in this area in the future.

And just west of Prince George, the Ministry will also be conducting a series of open burns to reduce wildfire threats starting today.

She says it will cover 3.8 hectares north of Frenkel Road and will continue periodically until October 31, 2017.

“The goal of this project is to mitigate wildfire hazards and reduce the threats of interface fires in this area by removing lower tree branches and accumulations of forest fuels on the ground.”

Reynolds says the timing of the burns will depend on the weather and crew availability and says they will proceed only if conditions are suitable and allow for “quick dissipation and low-to-moderate fire intensity.”