SANTA CRUZ — Cal Fire officials expected to begin burning some 60 piles of vegetation Tuesday across 8 acres on the west side of lower Empire Grade.
The Lower Empire Grade Shaded Fuel Break project, ongoing for several years, was designed to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire to the area, improve ingress and egress for the community of Bonny Doon and help protect UC Santa Cruz infrastructure, according to a Cal Fire announcement. Weather permitting, Tuesday’s pile burn, located south of Smith Grade, is expected to produce less smoke than a more standard controlled burn, according to the agency.
“It is important to continue work on fuel breaks as the vegetation never stops growing,” Cal Fire CZU forester Brett Agler, who coordinates Santa Cruz County’s prescribed fires, is quoted in the release. “It is easier to maintain a fuel break once it is established. However, if it is not maintained, it will no longer function as a fuel break.”
Visit the Cal Fire statewide fuels reduction dashboard at fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/natural-resource-management/fuels-reduction and for preparedness information, visit readyforwildfire.org.
