Open Burning Season To Begin For Range Management Fires

BAY AREA, CA – The open burning season for range management fires within the Bay Area will begin on Monday, July 1, and run through April 30, 2020, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

Range management fires are set to remove unwanted vegetation from public or private lands where commercially-raised animals such as horses, cattle and sheep graze and feed.

Open burning is regulated because of its impact on air quality, according to the air district, the regional agency responsible for protecting air quality in the nine-county Bay Area. Certain fires for agricultural purposes, fire training, flood control, and the prevention of fire hazards, among other purposes, are allowed when weather conditions are favorable for smoke dispersion, many of them during specified periods throughout the year.

Each day of the year is designated as either a burn or a no burn day, and permissible fires can only be set during their established burn season on a designated burn day, air district officials said. Open burning requirements apply to the Bay Area region, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southwestern Solano and southern Sonoma counties.