In the line of fire: city’s wildland urban interface still needs attention, according to new report
By Timothy Schafer Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A significant piece of Nelson’s wildland urban interface has a moderate wildfire behaviour threat or higher, according to a new community wildfire resiliency plan written for the Heritage city.
Around 15 per cent of the wildland — a one-kilometre wide section of the forest around the city — is subject to the threat of wildfire behaviour, the report by Bruce Blackwell and Associates and John Cathro warned.
“This, along with other analyses presented and discussed throughout the document, indicate that wildfire is a real threat to Nelson and its wildland urban interface,” Blackwell wrote in the report. Nelson has begun planning and preparing for a wildfire emergency, he added, but should refer to the community wildland resiliency plan (CWRP) on how to continue this process effectively.
Eight years ago Blackwell and Cathro were contracted by the City of Nelson to update the community wildfire protection plan (CWPP). Last year the Union of B.C. Municipalities and the Province changed the format of the CWPP, to the Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan (CWRP) which places more emphasis on resilience and preparedness.
Blackwell presented an overview of the CWRP, highlighting the coordinated efforts between the City of Nelson, the RDCK and BC Parks that, among other things, identified areas of common interest where wildfire risk is shared.
“Of specific interest is the one-kilometre wildland interface that surrounds the city of Nelson. The CWRP provides information on previous recommendations as well as updated risk assessments and thirty-three new recommendations going forward.
Grant funding from UBCM and City of Nelson in-kind services were used to fund the project.
More to come …
