IDYLLWILD — Beginning this week, the U.S. Forest Service will begin a series of controlled burns in the San Bernardino National Forest, around Idyllwild, to reduce excess vegetation that might otherwise fuel wildfires.
“We set out each year to accomplish as much prescribed burning as we can, when it is safe to do so,” USFS Deputy Fire Chief Scott Howes said. “We really appreciate the public’s continued support for this important work.”
Nearly 1,300 acres are targeted for reduction on the Riverside County side of the 676,000-acre San Bernardino National Forest.
With the onset of winter weather, conditions are generally safe for burns, which will be closely monitored and immediately suspended when there are signs of increasing winds or extremely low humidity, according to the USFS.
“Drought, fuel buildups and fire exclusion … have increased the severity of wildfires and allowed fuels to unnaturally build up,” according to a USFS statement.
“That build-up results in an overabundance of flammable brush, which can enable wildfires to quickly spread into the canopy and toward communities and infrastructure. In addition to forest health, prescribed burning allows firefighters to be safely placed between a wildfire and a community or important infrastructure assets, such as fire stations and communications towers.”
The following locations north, south, east and west of Idyllwild are due for burning operations:
–Garner Valley, east of Highway 74–Lake Hemet area, within the Cranston burn scar, northeast of the lake;–Pine Cove, north forest land;–Strawberry Fuelbreak, west of Idyllwild;–Thomas Mountain; and–various places adjacent to USFS fire stations.
Different burn methods will be utilized. One will be broadcast burning, which entails removing vegetation over a large space with pre-determined boundaries. The other is slash pile burning, which as the name implies, involves torching piles of brush to clear space around fire stations, communications towers and other facilities.
No road closures have been announced in connection with the burns. However, officials advised residents and motorists not to be alarmed by smoke columns that will be visible during the operations, most of which will be announced ahead of time.
