Here's why a controlled burn in Windsor's Optimist Memorial Park is being considered
City staff say burns foster growth of desirable species and get rid of 'ground fuel'
Dave Lawson lives next to Optimist Memorial Park and says he walks through it almost everyday.
The Windsor resident says before Thursday night's city-run information session about a possible controlled burn in the park next year he was worried — but not now.
"Having seen what their [city] plan can do. It's not nearly as dangerous as I thought it might have been," said Lawson.
He says he wasn't sure if a controlled burn could get out of control and what the end result would look like.
"I thought maybe the undergrowth would catch on fire and they might lose more than they were to gain by doing it. But essentially they're getting rid of the leaves and adding to the soil."
City of Windsor forester Yemi Adeyeye says the purpose of a burn in the park's wooded area would be to foster growth of desirable species and get rid of materials people could light on fire.
"Dry leaves that will fall … on the ground. That could really cause an accidental burning, or someone who will go there intentionally to burn it up," he said.
Earlier this year, residents in the area told CBC News they believed someone was intentionally setting fires in the wooded part of the park.
WATCH | Where and when to have a controlled burn:
"There should be some natural fire that passes through and clears up all this fuel load, but now what we will do is we do some prescribed burning so that foliage can be sort of cleaned up, and it also helps the trees to grow nicely," said Adeyeye.
The park is home to 262 species of wildlife and vegetation and 14 of them are of conservation concern. The burn would also foster their growth and get rid of invasive ones.
City naturalist and outreach coordinator Karen Alexander says a lot of factors are considered before a prescribed burn can be ignited.
"We're looking for things like leaf moisture content, wind speed, wind direction," she said.
"When is it going to rain next? When did it rain last?"
According to Alexander, the decision to move forward with a burn is made only a few days ahead of time — but neighbours would be informed in advance by email or phone.
Heidi Jacobs lives a few blocks away from the park and says she can't wait to see what it will look like if the city does in fact move ahead with a prescribed burn next year.
"This is a really fascinating, pretty undiscovered, I think, natural area within Windsor," she said.
"I'm really excited to see some protection and some activism and some proactive things to bolster this natural environment."
Referencing Ojibway, Jacobs says there's been an "awful lot of interesting stuff" happening there with natural burns.
"They're making room for some native species to thrive and I would love to see that happening here."
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With files from Peter Duck and Dale Molnar