How Indigenous syilx knowledge protects the land against wildfires – The Discourse

March 2, 2022

Thousand-year-old practices are at the core of wildfire mitigation efforts in the Westbank First Nation Community Forest.

For nearly six months in 2021, the Mount Law wildfire near West Kelowna scorched 976 hectares of land. Igniting approximately two kilometres away from the municipality on Aug. 15, the wildfire burned for over 19 days before crews contained the spread on Sept. 3.

Miraculously, when the smoke cleared, Central Okanagan Emergency Operations reported the fire inflicted significant damage to only one structure.

Favourable weather and dedicated firefighters managed to control the blaze, but the groundwork for keeping the area relatively unscathed was laid by Westbank First Nation (WFN) years before the first tree caught flame.

Read More: https://thediscourse.ca/okanagan/wildfire-prevention-westbank-first-nation-community-forest