This Monday morning, debris burning in Tuolumne and Calaveras counties will be banned and that means the Amador El Dorado Unit will not be far behind. The announcement comes on the heels of increased fire activity in the foothills, including a 111-acre wildfire last week in San Andreas and a small grass fire Tuesday in the Sonora area. "It does seem that conditions are more severe earlier this year than past years," said CalFire Tuolumne Calaveras PreFire Division Chief Steven Hollett, Cal Fire, announced Wednesday that burn permits will be suspended starting 8 a.m. Monday. Tollet adds that "Experience has shown that suspending debris burns is an effective way of preventing wildfire escapes, especially as California enters a period of hotter and drier weather," he said. Beginning Monday, people wishing to burn debris on their property will be prohibited from doing so unless they can prove that their burn must be completed for health or safety reasons, fire officials say.