The Province is supporting the development of a new mass-timber production facility that will create 90 sustainable, local forestry jobs in Castlegar and continue to grow to position B.C. at the forefront of this emerging wood-manufacturing and housing-construction sector.

People are invited to an engagement session in Castlegar on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, to have their say on how best to encourage farming and protect farmland throughout British Columbia.

The BC Wildfire Service, in partnership with the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, is planning to conduct a 63-hectare prescribed burn approximately seven kilometres north of Midway in the Centre Hill/Ingram Creek area.  

The BC Wildfire Service reminds the public that they must stay clear of firefighting aircraft collecting water from Lower Arrow Lake and Upper Arrow Lake, in response to the Syringa Complex wildfires burning about 17 kilometres northwest of Castlegar.

Weather permitting, the BC Wildfire Service will be conducting planned ignitions on the Meachen Creek wildfire located within the Meachen Creek drainage, approximately 10 kilometres southwest of St. Mary Lake in the Southeast Fire Centre.

There have been 85 new wildfire starts in the Southeast Fire Centre since Aug. 11, 2018, 16 of which are in the Invermere Fire Zone and Cranbrook Fire Zone.

The BC Wildfire Service is planning to burn about 25 piles of wood debris in the Slocan Valley, about three kilometres south of Silverton.

The recent downturn in the weather has decreased the number of new wildfire starts and reduced aggressive wildfire behaviour in the Southeast Fire Centre. Initial attacks on new wildfires have been successful.

Due to decreased fire activity, cooler weather and recent progress made by firefighting crews, regional districts in the Southeast Fire Centre and the BC Wildfire Service have made some changes to existing area restrictions and evacuation alerts.

With hot and dry conditions continuing in the East Kootenay region, the BC Wildfire Service is anticipating an increase in new wildfire activity and is monitoring growth on existing fires in the region today.