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1/29/24 - The Cleveland National Forest (CNF) Palomar Ranger District (PRD) is set to initiate prescribed fire preparation on the following projects:

Prescribed Fire Preparation:

North Ramona Fuelbreak (map 2) Urban Corp crews continue working on North Ramona West cut/pile work in the crosshatch area.

Fry Creek (map 3) – Crews may be working on handline improvements and/or snagging.

Jeff Valley (maps 4-6) – Crews may be working on handlines and various burn prep activities.

Palomar Fuelbreaks (map 7) – Crews may be working on various preparations for burning.

Prescribed Fire:

North Ramona Fuelbreak – prescribed burning may occur in all sections of N. Ramona FB (maps 1 & 2) with available burn windows – best opportunity this week may be on Thursday, Feb. 1.

Crews may initiate pile burning on various portions of the fuelbreak, depending on weather, resources availability, and access. Some portions of the fuelbreak will need to be burned under wet/moist conditions, other areas may be burned on days where we need simple/quick access for ignitions and mop-up.

Acres burned to date: 62 acres.

Palomar Mt. Piles – prescribed burning may occur in Jeff Valley or Fry Creek with available burn windows – planning to set up a pile burn Jeff Valley Units 11/12 (24 acres) on Wed., Jan. 31. Burning could go multiple days with the right conditions.

Our priority burn area in Jeff Valley (140 acres) will be in piles adjacent to Conifer Rd. (Units 11, 12, 9, 4, 6, and 18).

Our priority burn area in Fry Creek is Units 8a/b & 2a/b. We will likely burn in Jeff Valley as the priority over Fry Creek, but it is possible that we could burn piles in Fry Creek once we have snow on the ground.

Acres burned in Jeff Valley to date: 27 acres.

Palomar Fuelbreaks – prescribed burning may occur with available burn windows – planning to set up a broadcast burn Aguanga Unit 1 (61 acres) on Wed., Jan. 31.

Admin/Station Piles – pile burning could occur anytime conditions are favorable.

Prescribed Fire is part of Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: https://fs.usda.gov/managing-land/wildfire-crisis. Prescribed fire plays an important role in forest health and in reducing extreme wildfires and their negative impact. These fires also help reduce heavy fuel loads while simultaneously opening the conifer forest structure and maintaining the health of meadow habitats. Fire is also used to enhance native plant communities and cultural landscapes and improve wildlife habitats. Another goal is to provide defensible space for communities and developed areas within and surrounding the ENF. With all fire comes smoke, and the U.S. Forest Service works to mitigate smoke impacts from prescribed fires on the communities in the area. 

#PrescribedBurn #PrescribedFire #ForestHealth #wildifrecrisis