Smoke harbinger of burning season

The smoky skies of autumn arrived before open burn season this October.

Air quality dipped into the unhealthy for sensitive groups overnight Saturday and Sunday. More smoke was expected to return on Monday night.

With favorable weather, foresters continued to burn understory as part of the 6,929-acre Quarry fire. The fire is 45 percent contained, and Stanislaus National Forest fire managers expect to douse the fire in mid-November.

The fall 2023 seasonal open burning period for the East Fork Fire Protection District will begin Friday and continue through Dec. 17. “The district has identified the need to open a fall burn season to assist homeowners with the clean-up of natural vegetative debris and the maintenance of defensible and survivable space,” said Fire Marshal Amy Ray.

Anyone participating in seasonal open burning is required to have a current “Authorization to Conduct Seasonal Open Burning” information sheet with them and at the burn site prior to and during seasonal open burning operations.

Burners must call the burn line phone number, located on the document, each day. 

“This recording will advise whether it is a permissive burn day or not,” Ray said. “If it is not a permissive burn day, no burning of any kind is permissible.  Residents are responsible for ensuring that the date of the permissive day corresponds to the date they wish to burn. 

The line is an informational recording only, so burners can’t leave a message. The general seasonal open burn line recording will be changed daily. Burning may start as early as 7 a.m. and go as late as 3 p.m. with all fires completely extinguished by 3:30 p.m.

The fire district monitors all burning activities, including site investigations as required, to ensure residents are conducting seasonal open burning within the Douglas County regulations.

“Strict enforcement of the required burning regulations will take place, including the issuance of written stop orders and citations for violators of the seasonal open burn regulations,” Ray said. “After a very dry summer, fuel conditions within the East Fork Fire Protection District remain very volatile, even in the fall and winter, and depending on how much moisture the area gets.”

Seasonal open burning documents will be available at any fire station within the East Fork Fire Protection District, at the East Fork Fire Protection District’s administrative office located at 1694 County Road. In addition, the regulations may be downloaded and printed from the East Fork Fire Protection District’s website at www.eastforkfire.org.

For additional information, contact the East Fork Fire Protection District at 775-782-9040.

“Thank you in advance for your ongoing cooperation in fire safety,” Ray said.

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest hazardous fuel managers will begin pile burning closer to the Valley over the next eight months.

Specific burn locations include:

• Approximately 454 acres of pile burning is planned in the Monitor Pass Habitat Restoration Project area at the top of Monitor Pass just southeast of Markleeville.

• Approximately 155 acres of pile burning is planned in the West Carson Project area near the intersection of California State Route 89 and 88 in Hope Valley.

• Approximately 53 acres of pile burning is planned in the Manzanita Fuels Reduction Project area just north Highway 88 near Woodfords.

Approximately 205 acres of pile burning is planned in the Tamarack Project area just west of Markleeville.

• Approximately 343 acres of pile burning is planned in the Mill Canyon Fuels Reduction Project area northwest of Walker off Highway 395.

• Approximately 65 acres of pile burning in the Genoa Fuels Reduction Project area just west of Genoa and along Foothill Road.

• Approximately 13 acres of pile burning in the Jobs Peak Fuels Reduction Project area just west of Highway 395 adjacent to the Jobs Peak Ranch Estates.