Parts of the path along the Okanagan River Channel will be closed off to the public for a couple of days next week while local fire departments conduct some prescribed burns.
Ahead of the summer months, the Penticton Indian Band and Penticton fire departments will be conducting a prescribed burn of some tall grass along the walkway. That will result in the closure from the Highway 97 bridge at Doc’s Golf to the Green Mountain Road Bridge at the Super Save Gas station.
Those closures will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday next week.
“The tall grasses pose a risk to public safety as there is a potential for hidden hazards which may cause injury to your leashed pets, or pedestrians,” the PIB wrote in a statement. “In addressing this issue early, the band is also reducing the fire risks on both sides of the river channel, a resource and tourist destination we work to protect.”
The parking lot next to Super Save Gas will also be closed during the aforementioned times.
Prescribed burns, according to the PIB statement, are one of the most “ecologically appropriate and relatively efficient” means of mitigating safety concerns.
It is also intended to help with resource management issues, including enhancing habitats, preparing an area for a tree planting and disease eradication.