Fiddletown – Working to protect Amador County private land and Sierra Pacific Industries tree plantations from fire risk, work crews last week were fighting fire with fire, literally. Controlled burns off of Shake Ridge Road and Fiddletown Road should continue into this week as part of CALFIRE’s “Vegetation Management Program,” run by the Alpine-Amador-El Dorado-Sacramento Unit, based in Camino. Calfire Forester Patrick McDaniel said controlled burning started October 22nd and burning was done on 23rd, and also last Monday. The project was suspended Tuesday and Wednesday because of high winds, and it resumed again last Thursday and was likely to continue this week, “if the weather conditions are favorable,” McDaniel said. The project involves an “understory broadcast burn,” he said, which means continually “burning the understory vegetation, timber litter, grass, and bear clover, also known as mountain misery.” He said a white smoke may be visible as the vegetation burns. A notification of the project did not bring any phone calls from people sensitive to smoke, but McDaniel said he “did get a few calls from people who were curious and made sure that we were aware of the high winds forecasted” for last week. McDaniel said they “only receive authorization to burn when conditions allow.” The burns are ultimately authorized by the Calfire Northern Region. On burn project, they have crews from Pine Grove Camp, and 2 or 3 engines from Calfire. The “continuous burn” method was being used, which burns pine needles and twigs. He said “it significantly reduces the fuels,” and there was a lot of timber litter. They are burning on a young plantation area and “there was considerable fuel on the ground previously.” McDaniel said so far, they have worked on Sierra Pacific Property, but will also work on other private properties. In order to make a continuous project, they encouraged private landowners to participate. The project is “targeting the ridge line for fuel reduction,” particularly those on south side of it, because of wildland on the north side of the ridge, around the North Fork of the Cosumnes River. The ridge separates the wildland from more communities in Amador County, south of the ridge. If too much rain falls, vegetation “might not be dry enough to get a good burn.” They are working on Fiddletown Ridge, along the Fiddletown Road. He said they could work into next week, also dependent on weather. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.