The second burn between Tumbler Ridge and Flatbed Creek happened May 15, just before the long weekend, causing some confusion and some smoke issues for local campers.
“Is there a fire? Is the campground closed?” asked one concerned camper arriving for their weekend stay at the Lions Flatbed Campground.
But no, it was just BC Wildfire, along with the District, getting rid of some of the fuel on the ground southwest of town. Why? Because the prevailing winds in summer tend to come from that direction, and, if a fire were to start between Flatbed and town, it would have an easy path into town.
While many of the trees in that area are aspen—which don’t burn very quickly when the leaves are green—much of the ground cover is dry grass and juniper—which is one of the fastest burning plants in the area. By burning the ground-based fuel, they are hoping to create a break that will stop, or at least slow down, any fire that were to come through the area.
The area is divided up into five burn areas. Last year, crews did a controlled burn on the most dangerous section—covering about 2.25 ha—along the hillside that comes up from the valley to town. This year, they burned two units—about 18 ha—at the base of the hill, and are hoping to burn the last two units next year.
Tumbler Ridge is rated 1 on the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). The WUI is “any area where combustible forest fuel is found adjacent to homes, farm structures, or other outbuildings. This may occur at the interface, where development and forest fuel (vegetation) meet at a well-defined boundary, or in the intermix, where development and forest fuel intermingle with no clearly defined boundary. The lower the number, the higher the risk, with Tumbler Ridge having the highest relative risk classification.
That means that, with prevailing winds coming from the southwest, it was prudent to start wildfire mitigation and controlled burns along this side of the community. While there are burn units that have been identified for southeast of town, near the stables, those areas will most likely be dealt with in 2027.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
