A prescribed burn of 1-5 acres of slash from felled dead trees and brush will begin March 9 and may go into and through the week of March 12, as conditions allow, on Figueroa Mountain in the Central Figueroa area along Figueroa Mountain Road.
The burn is scheduled to run 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on a permissive burn day.
The goal of the series of one-day pile burning 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.
The 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 to minimize impacts on air quality on surrounding communities.
The 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.
— Andrew Madsen for Los Padres National Forest.