FILE PHOTO - What an area on Penticton India Band last looked like four months after a prescribed burn in 2021.

(DAN WALTON / iNFOnews.ca)

Only three controlled burns will take place in the Okanagan this spring in an effort to reduce fire fuel and prepare for the wildfire season ahead.

Westbank First Nation completed their first and only burn of the season last week on First Nation land near McCulloch Road. The burn was carried out by First Nation members and a BC Wildfire Service crew.

Dave Gill, general manager of Ntityix Resources, says the day was a success.

READ MORE: Westbank First Nation wants to return to prescribed burning

“BC Wildfire Service has been really good in getting these things going, and they've made it clear too that when they're working with us on these burns they're there as backup more than anything else,” Gill told iNFOnews.ca.

“The whole idea behind it is to, I guess, have some cross-cultural learnings so BC Wildfire Service can learn, as well as WFN membership and our staff.”

The burn not only helped to eradicate surface fuels, but also aided in restoring traditional grazing areas for elk.

“The grasslands are being overtaken by ponderosa pine and Douglas fir (and) brush species such as snowberry,” Gill said.

“The burn doesn't eradicate the invasive plants, that might take a few years of work to do. But what it does is reinvigorates the grass production and that helps with the browsing that's available for the elk. And so the intent is to provide that habitat that the elk have traditionally relied on.”

READ MORE: Deliberately set fires in West Kelowna area will help 'FireSmart' efforts

Cultural burns such as these also offer important opportunities for First Nation communities to be involved in traditional practices, Gill said.

However, planning can often be difficult as there are strict conditions on how and when burns take place.

This particular project required a days worth of preparation, as well as an entire day to conduct the burn.

“There just needs to be more of it getting done. Problem is it takes a lot of people and it takes a lot of money," Gill said. "And those are the two resources that are sometimes short.”

Westbank First Nation has one other burn planned for the fall near Peachland, with BC Wildfire Services and the Okanagan Nation Alliance.

READ MORE: BC will add prescribed burns to fire management toolkit

“That's been planned for a few years now,” Gill said. “Two years ago, part of it we managed to burn, but the conditions just haven't been right. So, we're hoping that that will go this fall.”

BC Wildfire Service has been involved in just two burning projects around the Okanagan this spring, with one more planned before fire season.

In written response to iNFOnews.ca, the wildfire service said that it is “committed to increasing the use of cultural and prescribed fire.”

However, it said these projects are ultimately reliant upon on "site and weather conditions."

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