The good deeds of local youth will be highly evident this weekend as student leaders take on two initiatives in West Kelowna as part of the Central Okanagan school district’s increasing emphasis on community and global service.

Both initiatives taking place this weekend are born out of the Provincial Student Leadership Conference, which Mount Boucherie Secondary School has co-hosted with Kelowna Secondary School, Thursday through Sunday.

On Saturday morning, more than three dozen students from across B.C., who were in town for the conference, were expected out at Faulkner Creek Park, helping West Kelowna Fire Rescue to clean debris from the forest floor.

“In the wake of West Kelowna wildfires this summer, approximately 40 students will grab rakes and garbage bags and clean up the ground fuels in Faulkner Creek Park, accessed off of Horizon Drive. Removing the leaves, twigs and pine needles will help to stop the spread of fire in the event of a wildfire,” the District of West Kelowna stated in a press release.

Firefighters will be on site to assist in the fuel management work.

In the second initiative, 10 students were also expected to go door to door with West Kelowna Fire Rescue firefighters at Jubilee Mobile Home Park at 2005 Boucherie Road to test residents’ smoke alarms.

“If the smoke alarm is not working firefighters will replace the batteries or provide the resident with a new smoke alarm if needed.”

Meanwhile, news of the Faulkner Creek clean up was a pleasant surprise to Wayne Byron, the strata president at the nearby Huntsfield Green development.

“You’re kidding,” he said. “That would certainly go some way to resolving the fire hazards.”

Byron mentioned that while he was pleased to hear of the district’s work in the park, he is also eagerly awaiting word from the district on a policy dealing with clean up of forest fire fuel debris on private property in the vicinity.

“I would like to give credit to whoever the organizers were. It will certainly go some of the way to mitigating our concerns. However, I still hope the municipality can look at some way to do a more thorough job and look after the dead trees, not just what’s dropped on the ground.”

Faulkner Creek ravine, which runs behind Huntsfield Green is a private property full of dead and dying trees, which Byron says poses a threat to all homes in the Horizon Drive area.

The Rose Valley forest fire over the summer was a wake up call that the municipality can’t ignore, according to Byron.

To hammer home that point, he and his neighbours went before council earlier this year to ask the municipality to develop a policy that would enable crews to go in and clean up the debris on private property.

Byron was hopeful a policy would come out of a council meeting as early as this week or sometime later this fall.

jluciw@kelownacapnes.com