The Cariboo Fire Centre has been busy preparing for the 2022 Wildfire Season.
Fire Centre Manager Mike Gash said they’ve been doing recalls on all of their fire fighting crews and as of right now about fifty per cent are back in place with the remaining fifty per cent set to start the first Monday in May.
“Throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre, we have four 20-person Unit Crews. One based in the 100 Mile House Zone, one in the Central Cariboo Zone, one in the Chilcotin zone and Alexis Creek, and another in the Quesnel Zone.”
Gash added they have 12 initial attack fire fighting crews made up of 3 to 4 persons based in the Fire Centre in Williams Lake that can be dispatched all over the Cariboo Fire Centre and they also have an additional one based in the Quesnel Fire Zone.
Gash said they are also busy with prescribed burns.
“Over the last number of days, the Cariboo Fire Centre working with contract crews hired from the Tsilhqot’in communities have been burning the ditches of Highway 20 in the vicinity of Alexis Creek to reduce the hazard. We’re also preparing for burn adjacent to the Golf Course and Westridge Subdivision in Williams Lake. We’re preparing for a burn at the bottom of the White Road just South of Williams Lake. We’re working with the Williams Lake Fire Department on those interface burns within the City of Williams Lake,” Gash said.
He added as of April 6th 2022 the Cariboo Fire Centre has no prohibitions in place but is continuing to monitor conditions for prohibitions and they ask anyone doing burning, either backyard Category 1, Category 2, Category 3, are looking at the wind forecast and paying attention to when it may not be appropriate to burn.