AnonymousSource: Air Pollution Control District
The Los Padres National Forest has tentatively scheduled two separate prescribed burns to occur in March: the Figueroa Mountain Pile Burn and Administration Pile Burn. The burn window will start on March 5 and last through the month of March for both burns. 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 Figueroa Mountain Pile Burn will occur in the Figueroa Mountain area. The Administration Pile Burn will occur in the following locations: New Cuyama, Pine Canyon, Figueroa, Los Prietos, San Marcos Stations, and various campgrounds.
For both the Figueroa Mountain and Administration Pile Burns, each burn will consist of approximately 1-10 acres (10-100 piles) of slash from felled dead trees and brush. The burn is scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. and conclude at 5 p.m. on a permissive burn day. Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) staff have reviewed the Smoke Management Plan and provided conditions to minimize smoke impacts in Santa Barbara County. The burn will be conducted when the meteorological conditions are highly favorable to direct smoke away from population centers.
This prescribed burn is planned and coordinated by the Santa Barbara County APCD, San Luis Obispo County APCD, San Joaquin Valley APCD, Ventura County APCD, and the California Air Resources Board in order to minimize impacts on air quality on surrounding communities. The burn is dependent on weather and air quality conditions that are favorable to smoke dispersion. If the conditions are not as desired, the burn will be rescheduled.
Due to changing winds and weather conditions, it is difficult to predict which areas of the county, if any, may be most affected by smoke from the burn. If you smell smoke, take precautions and use common sense to reduce any harmful health effects by limiting outdoor activities. When you can smell smoke or when it is visible in your area, avoid strenuous outdoor activity and remain indoors as much as possible. These precautions are especially important to children, older adults, and those with heart and lung conditions. If you are sensitive to smoke, consider temporarily relocating and closing all doors and windows on the day of the burn. Please use caution while driving near prescribed fire operations.
For more information regarding the county’s air quality, visit www.OurAir.org.
Thanks for mucking up our air and lungs. We’ll never get to enjoy this rain-clean air as we should.
And what about all the smoke caused by the Thomas, the Sherpa, the Gap, the Zaca, ( know I’m missing a few)??? How quickly we forget. Smoke from a controlled burn is far less extensive. Remember having to wear those masks last year for days on end? Even in the car? Smelling smoke even inside the house with all the windows closed? Smoke that could be seen from space? How is a controlled burn more damaging? Short answer, it is not. More controlled, small burns mean fewer out of control conflagrations eating up hundreds of thousands of acres of forest and the resulting air pollution.