There is now an official Prescribed Burn Association in the RM of Stuartburn. 

The steering committee of the Stuartburn Prescribed Burn Association came out to present to council and the public on Thursday, March 21. 

Reeve of Stuartburn, Michelle Gawronsky, says this will ensure they have prescribed burns done. 

“Which actually is going to protect ourselves, our neighbors, making sure that any of the tall grasses, any of the brush that is there, is absolutely going to be looked after.”

She says last summer was very dry, and this training would help not just in controlled burns, but with helping the community learn about general fire safety. 

“We have a history of having many great fires. It wasn't that long ago, 2012, we lost a couple of homes and we lost the bridge coming into town because of grass fires, so this is why this is so important that we're able to do this.” 

Gawronsky says controlled burns are good for nature. 

“To get your oak trees or your evergreen trees, you need the fires to go through to be able to pop the seeds and make sure that new tree growth and everything is there. This is a way to help control that.”  

She says working together will help protect the community members, the municipality, the farmlands, and the endangered species. 

The steering committee is coming out to train volunteers and help the community ensure they have prescribed burns done. 

There are three people on the steering committee. 

They are Laura Reeves, a resident of Gardenton with prescribed fire experience with the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve, Bert Baumgartner, a former volunteer firefighter in Stuartburn, and Kale Cohen, a Winnipeg resident with extensive prescribed fire experience and training capability. 

All residents are invited to the first training session on Saturday, April 20th.

 

With files from Adi Loewen