Crews To Burn Vegetation To Reduce Wildfire Fuels In Mill Valley

MILL VALLEY, CA — Work crews plan to burn piles of vegetation Wednesday around Marin County to reduce fuel for wildfires, county officials said Tuesday.

Officials from Marin County Parks and the Marin County Fire Department are working with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to determine the best time to do the burning.

Recent weather, including a high-pressure system and morning inversion layers, have prevented crews from igniting the piles.

"We do our best to get the word out in advance, so people aren't alarmed about a wildfire and begin to inundate our 911 dispatchers with emergency calls," said Jim Chayka, parks' superintendent. "Burn piles are a reliable method to dispose of vegetative material safely and efficiently."

The timing and order of the burns is subject to change. Community members can find information on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Nextdoor, county officials said.

"We are given about 24 hours of notice before we can burn," said Nate Clark, parks' biodiversity and fuels management coordinator. "When we get the go-ahead, we plan to use social media to let people know in areas close to the burning so they are aware of what we're doing."

Burns are planned for multiple areas around Marin:

• Overhill Road near the Camino Alto Open Space Preserve in Mill Valley
• Sanchez Way and Aries Lane near the Verissimo Hills Open Space Preserve in western Novato
• Corte Norte near the Loma Verde Open Space Preserve in the Ignacio area of Novato
• Cascade Drive near Cascade Canyon Open Space Preserve southwest of downtown in Fairfax
• Cedar Hill Drive on the ridge between Terra Linda and Sleepy Hollow
• Pacheco Creek Drive near the Pacheco Valle Open Space Preserve in southern Novato

Once a burn is underway, community members can expect to see and smell smoke from mid-morning until mid-afternoon, officials said.

Getting ready for the burns involves cutting and piling up vegetation from areas where staging a chipper is too dangerous or the place is too remote. When the conditions are optimal, the burning starts.

Funding for the work comes from a quarter-cent retail sales tax implemented with the 2012 passage of Marin County Parks and Open Space Measure A. Measure A supports parks and open space and programs in the county as well as farmland preservation and land acquisition.