A controlled burn at Wilder Ranch State Park is planned Oct. 28 to Nov. 5, depending on weather. A crew works at Wilder in 2023. (State Parks)
SANTA CRUZ >> Cal Fire started a 250-acre controlled burn on private land near San Gregorio and Pomponio state beaches in San Mateo County late Wednesday morning, and more prescribed fires are expected this month at Butano and Wilder Ranch state parks.
Smoke from the San Mateo County fires could drift into Santa Cruz County.
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Prescribed fires are planned, controlled burns of natural areas with dry grass or brush. These low-intensity blazes clear land and remove potential fuel for larger wildfires. They can encourage native plants to grow.
“Most of the area has not been burned at least in the last 50 years,” San Mateo County Burn Boss Sarah Collamer said of the areas near San Gregorio and Pomponio areas set alight Wednesday. “We are looking to reduce vegetative fuels and reduce coastal prairie habitat, Collamer wrote in a statement. “These burns are strategically located north of the town of Pescadero and would help protect the town during a north wind event.”
The San Gregorio and Pomponio controlled burn is expected through Friday, Oct. 25.
This is the current view of our prescribed fire in the San Gregorio area south of Half Moon Bay. #CaWx pic.twitter.com/2ata4H3Pvu
— CAL FIRE CZU (@CALFIRECZU) October 23, 2024
More prescribed fires are planned that are weather dependent.
- Wednesday, Oct. 23 to Friday, Nov. 8, State Parks tentatively plan to burn forest brush at Butano State Park in southern San Mateo County.
- Monday, Oct. 28 to Tuesday, Nov. 5, State Parks tentatively plans for a prescribed fire at Wilder Ranch State Park near Santa Cruz.
This month, The County of Santa Cruz added notices of prescribed burns to its CruzAware text message system.
How to find info on prescribed fires in Santa Cruz County
- Prescribed burn notices are sent to subscribers as part of the County of Santa Cruz’s CruzAware emergency alert system. County residents can sign in to their existing accord or register for a new account.
- State Parks updates controlled burns at state parks in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties on its website.
- Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit often updates prescribed burn information on the social media site X with no login required.
- The Monterey Air Resources District website has an online map of active prescribed burns.
- The California Air Resources Board’s Smoke Spotter cellphone app has information on local fires and smoke conditions.
Prescribed fire making a comeback
Many public agencies and private groups, including in the Santa Cruz Mountains, are doing more prescribed burns and Indigenous cultural burns in hopes of returning healthy fire to the landscape.
Many forests and other California ecosystems evolved to experience periodic wildfires. In many places, indigenous people managed forests and grasslands with small-scale fires for thousands of years.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Spanish and U.S. governments in California outlawed intentional burning, including Indigenous cultural burns.
Fire suppression — typically without prescribed fire or widespread land management — continued for about 200 years until research demonstrated that in many ecosystems, suppressing small fires can leave fuel for larger, catastrophic fires.
Read more
- County needs plan to reduce wildfire fuel, civil grand jury reports — July 1, 2022
- Wildfire preparation groups double in Santa Cruz County — July 23, 2021
- Podcast: Prescribed burns and wildfire in Santa Cruz County — Dec. 20, 2020
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Jesse Kathan is a staff reporter for Santa Cruz Local through the California Local News Fellowship. They hold a master's degree in science communications from UC Santa Cruz.