UPDATE 1:15 p.m. – If it feels like its smoky around the Merritt area, its probably because of a series of four prescribed burns that could get underway as early as today, March 11.
The BC Wildfire Service says there are a pair of burns northeast of Merritt, one southwest of Merritt, and one northwest of Merritt, with all of the burns expected to start when conditions are favourable.
The first burn about 33 kilometres northeast of Merritt will be around 314 hectares in size, while the other one adjacent to Quilchena about 23 kilometres northeast of Merritt will be about 79 hectares. Both of these burns will be done in partnership with the Upper Nicola Band and the Upper Nicola Fire Department.
The burn southwest of Merritt is expected to be 110 hectares in size, and about 7.5 kilometres southwest of the Coldwater IR#1. It will be done in partnership with the Coldwater Indian Band and Coldwater Fire Department.
A fourth prescribed burn being done in partnership with the Lower Nicola Indian Band and Lower Nicola Fire Department will be about six kilometres northwest of Merritt at an estimated 210 hectares in size.
“The objectives are to reduce the build-up of dead grass and promote the growth of traditional foods, to aid in community protection through the removal of fuel in Wildland Urban Interface areas,” the BC Wildfire Service said of all four burns, in a statement.
“The work completed will be dependent on local weather and venting conditions and burning will not be done unless conditions are favourable.”
It also says these burns will help provide “critical” cross training opportunities for the BC Wildlife Service Personnel as well as firefighters from the Upper Nicola, Lower Nicola, and Coldwater Indian bands.
The BC Wildfire Service says people in and around the Merritt and Lower Nicola area – including residents near Douglas, Quilchena, and Nicola lakes – as well as travellers on highways 5A, 8, and 97D may see smoke as a result of these burns which are expected to last until about mid-April.
“We do typically tend to post on our social media page once those ignitions have started just to make people aware that they might see that smoke happening around that time,” Fire Information Officer Shaelee Stearns told Radio NL, when asked if any of the burns have begun.
“That is a good place to keep an eye open for that.”
