The smell of smoke may fill the air in three Bay Area counties, but residents don’t need to be unduly concerned about it – it’s all by design.
That’s because authorities are conducting prescribed burns. The operations are scheduled to take place this week in Marin and Sonoma counties.
At Sonoma County, authorities will conduct a burn operation at the Tolay Lake Regional Park Wednesday. Crews will ignite 120 acres of grassland south of the park center as early as 9 a.m. and throughout the day.
Sonoma County Regional Parks, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection are jointly managing the controlled fire.
A second prescribed burn has been scheduled to start this week on Mount Tamalpais State Park and its surrounding watershed lands in Marin County.
The Marin County Fire Department said the operation will take place on the week of Oct. 21, but the exact date has not been determined as of Tuesday early morning.
Officials planned to conduct the activity as early as Oct. 15, but they had said that the date was tentative as prescribed burns depend on various factors such as the weather.
Authorities will announce the specific date of the operation on the morning of the ignition.
The Marin County Fire Department, California State Parks and Marin Water are coordinating the planned burn, which will take place at the Mountain Theater on East Ridgecrest Boulevard, between the Quarry parking lot and the Rock Spring trailhead.
The park and the nearby trails will be closed during the operation. Ridgecrest Boulevard will remain open, but officials advise motorists to expect short delays due to smoke.
Smoke may be visible at the area of the burn operations, but officials advise the community that there is no need to call 911.Cal Fire will also be burning 250 acres near the San Mateo County coast this week, the agency said Monday.
The fires are part of the state's fuels reduction goals directed by the California Fire Plan and the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, according to Cal Fire.
