Figueroa Mountain Burn Scheduled for This Week
By the Air Pollution Control District
WHAT: Prescribed pile burning of 1-10 treated acres of slash from felled dead trees and brush.
WHEN: January 24-28. Additional series of burns will occur through the spring as conditions permit. Most burning operations will begin in the morning and conclude in the afternoon. However, some burning operations may continue through the evening to allow for full consumption of flammable material.
WHERE: Burning will occur near Figueroa Mountain and various other forest locations (updated on Los Padres Twitter and Facebook accounts).
WHY: The goal of the series of pile burns is to reduce the risk of wildfire. Prescribed, or planned, fires typically burn less intensely than wildfires. Prescribed burns can help prevent the spread of wildfires and can reduce impacts to watersheds that can result in soil loss and sedimentation. The burn will be conducted when the meteorological conditions are highly favorable to direct smoke away from population centers.
WHO: This prescribed burn is planned and coordinated by the Los Padres National Forest with Santa Barbara County APCD, San Luis Obispo County APCD, San Joaquin Valley APCD, Ventura County APCD, and the California Air Resources Board to minimize impacts on air quality on surrounding communities.
This burn depends on weather and air quality conditions that are favorable for smoke dispersal. If the conditions are not as desired, the burn will be rescheduled.
To view a statewide prescribed burn map and other features, visit the Prescribed Fire Information Reporting System (PFIRS) website: https://ssl.arb.ca.gov/pfirs/firm/firm.php
8 Comments
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Jan 23, 2023 12:00 PMOK, so is this good or bad? Are we "suppressing" fires by doing this or are we effectively "raking" the forest of debris?
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Jan 23, 2023 12:43 PMI think you could call it raking Sac. This type of work achieves a similar result compared to a low intensity fire by clearing dead vegetation. Dead vegetation in the forest will burn sooner or later. “Raking” is one way to burn it. Another approach would be to have planned burns on a regular basis. Alternatively, another popular approach is to suppress fires at all costs until conditions are so extreme that suppression is no longer possible. This last approach is the Thomas fire. I would personally prefer a combination of the first two, but I think the Thomas fire approach to forest management remains the most popular in our community.
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Jan 23, 2023 01:19 PMCHIP - that's what I was thinking with this. We seem to do these on a pretty regular basis though. I also read a recent article about how fire depts are seeking the public's help in maintaining defensible spaces around their homes. This is key I think, especially in the foothill areas. Given that we need to suppress fires when they endanger local communities, a combination of planned burns (maybe more frequently) and home defense perimeters will help slow these wildfires.
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Jan 23, 2023 09:01 PMBad news for us asthmatics. It's nothing short of brutal.
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Jan 24, 2023 05:38 AMWe may think it happens regularly, but many are put off due to weather conditions, and they are all minuscule in relation to control. I am for planned burns and for forests. Of course hardening the line between residents and wildlands is important, as are hardening housing and decreasing habitation in or near wildlands (which leads to urban infill and further crowding). We must also make people responsible for their desire to live next to or in wilderness. It's all so difficult & expensive.
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Jan 24, 2023 05:39 AM12:00, it's good. What is wrong with doing both?
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Jan 23, 2023 12:33 PMLOL wow, some instant disagreement with a simple question. CHIP and VOICE?
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Jan 23, 2023 06:03 PMHistorically fire has been used here to control organic growth in SBCO, growth that doesn't happen in 90% of ca./country.
Winters like this are great but they are a big driver of plant growth ALL YEAR AROUND.
Not just 3 months like the rest of the country.
If you didn't grow up around here you don't realize that and probably won't live here long enough to experience it yourself.
We NEED to have as many winter burns as possible so the fires we can't control won't be so bad.