Why You May Soon See Smoke Near San Rafael

PHOTO: Members of the Tamalpais Fire Crew build piles of tree brush in preparation for burning.

The following is a news release from the County of Marin:

To reduce wildfire hazard, the Marin County Fire Department plans to conduct pile burning in San Rafael starting the week of December 1, and smoke will be visible in central Marin County.

The burning will take place near the Scettrini Fire Road south of the Marin County Civic Center on the east side of Highway 101. Weather permitting, burning will take place between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. in the area on Puerto Suello Hill, which separates Santa Venetia neighborhood from the Dominican neighborhood.

Fire Crew Superintendent Tim Walsh, who leads the Marin County Fire Department’s Tamalpais Fire Crew, aka the Tam Crew, said the scheduled burning will be postponed on non-permissive burn days declared by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The 14-member Tam Crew, which often focuses on vegetation management, recently removed two acres of non-native eucalyptus and french broom in an area of past fire history.

The project is sponsored by the City of San Rafael and FireSafe Marin utilizing a PG&E Emergency Drought Relief Grant to lower the fire hazard in high-risk areas.

Check up-to-date open burning permissions on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District website.