Osoyoos Fire Rescue is bracing for another potential early start to wildfire season in 2022.

In a quarterly report to town council, the summary states that so far this year the region is facing similar drought situations to 2021.

Between January 1 and March 31, the department answered 39 calls, although 16 turned out to be false alarms, often due to construction work.

According to the report, the start of the year has been slower for fire calls and the hope is that the rest of 2022 will also be slow.

However, with similar drought conditions to 2021, the potential of an early start to wildfire season is something the department has recognized.

READ MORE: Nk’Mip fire in Osoyoos top priority for BC Wildfire

In 2021, one of the large wildfires in B.C. was the Nk’Mip Creek Wildfire, which was discovered on July 19 and burned a total estimate of 19,335 hectares as part of the Okanagan Complex of wildfires.

Beyond responding to active calls, the department has been busy with training as well as with conducting fire inspections.

So far in 2022, the department has conducted 35 inspections that found 90 unsatisfactory items, along with 960 satisfactory items.

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