See Smoke Over Lake Elsinore? Prescribed Burn Underway

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — A prescribed burn was scheduled above Lake Elsinore, Tuesday, a Cleveland National Forest spokesperson announced.

Firefighters planned to burn roughly 20 acres off SR-74 and Long Canyon Road near the Blue Jay Campground, they said. CNF firefighters and support staff would be at the location with engines and support staff.

With only moderate fire danger on Tuesday, the weather conditions were considered favorable for a prescribed burn to remove brush, shrubs and small trees that could fuel an out-of-control wildfire in other conditions.

"Good fires prevent bad ones," a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service said. Prescribed fires create natural wildfire barriers and help fire-adapted plants and animals grow and thrive.

"Our scientists provide the data and tools needed to plan and manage prescribed fire," a news release from the US Forest Service said. "Scientists work closely with the land and resource managers to develop tools that support healthy forests and communities before, during and after wildfires."