A sudden appearance of smoke and fire on the hillside of Castle Mountain today prompted some inquiries from the public.
It appeared as though several piles of branches and other tree debris (slash piles) were being burned in an active logging area, within viewing distance of downtown Fernie.
In a statement provided to the Fernie Fire Department and forwarded to The Free Press, Canwel Timber LTD, the owners of the land, stated that they today initiated some logging debris pile burning near Ridgemont and River Road areas.
Canwel explained that to mitigate the potential fire hazard, the piles had been piled away from any standing timber and had some machine guard around them. In addition, Canwel explained they had heavy equipment on standby in case of an escape.
The company further explained that the open burning ventilation index was today listed as ‘good’, as well as tomorrow, and that the wind direction was Northwest, blowing the smoke away from the town.
According to Canwel, there are a few more piles East of Fernie in the Ridgemont area that will need to be burned as soon as the conditions are suitable.
More information will be released as it becomes available.