Wildfire mitigation underway north of town

PRINCE GEORGE – The BC Wildfire Service will be undertaking a large project in the Pilot Mountain area north of the city in a bid to reduce fuels that lead to forest fires.

“The first phase is going to be in the immediate area, the top of the tower, removing all of the hazardous trees and flammable shrubs,” explains David Clark with the BC Wildfire Service. “And then we’ll stepping out from that to the second phase and we’ll be doing some thinning of the forested area and pruning of the low-hanging branches as well as reducing woody debris and fuels on the first floor. If a forest fire does start there, it’ll step it down from a crown fire to a surface level fire.”

The work will be done over the course of three years and will tackle just over 13 hectares of land. The debris is caused by trees that have fallen over and are “laddering” against other trees, making it particularly challenges should a fire break out in those conditions.