Wednesday, 17 October 2007 02:09
Prescribed Burn Near West Point Scheduled
CALFIRE will be conducting
a prescribed burn in the Lily Valley area east of West Point.
Over 6,000 acres of the Winton-Schaads Prescribed Burn will be divided into 10
to 20 acre areas which will be treated over a 3 month period starting this fall
and concluding late spring. One to two CAL
FIRE engines along with personnel from Sierra Pacific Industries will conduct
the burn. This understory burn will treat bear clover, small conifers, brush
and grass and will help
protect the communities of West Point, Wilseyville, and Lily Valley as well as
protect timber resources and the Mokelumne watershed. A prescribed burn
is a managed fire in an area that has control lines in place and crews and
equipment in strategic locations.
A prescribed burning
project is the result of extensive pre-planning involving studies of the
vegetation types, weather patterns, topography, fire history and more. An environmental analysis is made for each
project, along with mitigation measures to address any foreseeable impacts that
might be caused by the fire. The prescribed burn project will start with a
small “test burn”, as a final check to ensure that conditions are within
“prescription”. If conditions are favorable, then the firefighters will begin
ignition around the perimeter of the project allowing a low intensity slow burn
to consume fuels within the project. If not, the project will be rescheduled.
