Wildland firefighters walked an area of Rose Hill with torches Friday, methodically laying out rows of flame to burn away brush that, if left untouched, could have become more volatile fuel for a wildfire. Conlan Sprickerhoff, Friday’s burn boss and wildfire technician for the BC Wildfire Service, said prescribed burns like the Rose Hill project help reduce fuel load that’s accumulated over time. “We’re burning a mix of sagebrush, some small saplings, a lot of grass, and a lot of needles and stuff that have built up over the last few years,” Sprickerhoff said. The prescribed burn covered between seven and 10 hectares in the area of the Rose Hill disc golf course. The ignitions took place Friday, and crews were expected to be on site for a couple of days afterwards to make sure all fires were out. “We're starting to see some green up — and some of the fuels are a little bit more moist, and that's a good thing, to be honest,” Sprickerhoff said. “We like to see lower intensities when we're burning. And we're not trying to ignite everything on fire. We're just trying to reduce the fuels that we are able to reduce with low-intensity surface fires.” The BCWS technician said goals for the project included reducing wildfire risk and helping with ecological restoration. He said reintroducing fire to the Kamloops landscape removes surface fuels at a low intensity, improving community safety for the years to come. The project offered a cross-training opportunity for BCWS and Kamloops Fire Rescue. Sprickerhoff said this was “extremely valuable,” noting the teams work frequently in partnership during fire season. Before Friday’s burn started, the crew met to discuss the plan in detail. Sprickerhoff said BCWS and KFR had been working to prepare the project for more than a year. A hose lay was wrapped around the burn area. Crew members were on standby with water while ignitions took place. “It’s a pretty well oiled machine,” said Kathleen Cahoon, City of Kamloops FireSmart liaison. There's a lot of planning that goes into it before we burn and obviously, for today, we have the right indices in terms of weather.” Cahoon noted the Kamloops landscape is reliant on fire happening in the ecosystem — it’s a natural process that has been suppressed for many years. “Introducing fire back onto the landscape is super important, not just for ecological restoration, but also for wildfire risk reduction,” she said. “For the purpose of this burn, we're eliminating some of the ground and surface fuels that would be readily available for consumption if a wildfire was to pass through." Sprickerhoff said after the burn, they will have good control lines set before fire season. “We can use these areas in the future to be able to hold a wildfire if one was to come,” Sprickerhoff said. Two more burns are planned for this spring in Peterson Creek Park and Lac Du Bois. Along with fire risk reduction, the burns will help remove invasive species and will offer more opportunities for partners like KFR and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District to work together ahead of wildfire season. Cahoon said the City of Kamloops and BCWS will be letting residents know when the burns are taking place. For homes near the burns, Cahoon recommended ensuring windows are shut. She said there will be smoke visible from the city. “When you see smoke in the air, it's not necessarily bad smoke,” she said. “Not all fire is bad, and there is good fire. So that's what we're just trying to bring back to the city.”