Burn Updates

For up-to-date messaging on prescribed burns in the Santa Cruz District,
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Press Releases

July 1, 2024
The prescribed burn on the Hollow Tree Trail is almost out. There are still about a dozen smoldering logs spread over approximately a half mile of trail. The crews will start today to completely extinguish the burn with patrols in the following days. 

June 25, 2024
Last week, the Natural Resources crew began burning a windrow of fuel along Hollow Tree Trail in Big Basin. This is a continuation of the work done in May along Johansen and China Grade Roads. The windrows of fuel have been burning well and creating some smoke. The burn will continue for one to two weeks before it is completely extinguished.

June 19, 2024
The Natural Resources crew staffed the prescribed burn for the last week and finished cleaning up the burned plot today. All the firehose and signs have been removed and the temporary control lines were repaired. The burn is now considered out, although the crew will check it over the next several days to make sure that nothing was missed.

June 13, 2024
The fire crews finished ignitions today on the sandhills burn. Through a combination of good information, strategic decisions, and a bit of luck, they were able to significantly reduce the impact of smoke to both the campers in the park and the residents of the San Lorenzo Valley.

The Natural Resource crew will be out on the plot tomorrow working to secure the burn and consume concentrations of heavy fuels. Crews will be on site 24 hours a day monitoring the burn plot through the weekend, at which time they will reassess the need for further staffing.

Natural Resources staff expect the burn to be completely out by the end of the day on Wednesday, June 19.

June 11, 2024
The  fire crews have authorization and resources to continue their burn at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park near the observation deck tomorrow. They will ignite six and a half more acres left to light and will begin at about 9:00 am.

Today crews patrolled and rearranged fuels to reduce the threat of escape from the plots that were lit yesterday.

After ignitions tomorrow, fire crews will continue to patrol until all the fuels have been consumed and the plot is cold.

June 10, 2024
The first day of the prescribed burn in the sandhills at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park went well, due to all the advanced planning that went into organizing this challenging burn and extra help from Cal FIRE and State Parks staff from Bay Area and Diablo Range Districts. The crews were only able to ignite six and a half acres of a planned thirteen acres due to concerns over smoke impacts, including a pulse of smoke making its way up the San Lorenzo Valley and reducing air quality for a couple of hours after ignitions were completed.

The  crews will work to pile and burn as much of the fuel in the plot as they can tomorrow, and then we will try to complete ignitions on Wednesday, with continued patrols through the weekend.

June 5, 2024
Prescribed fires at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park will begin Monday, June 10 or June 11 or June 12, depending on weather conditions. Ignitions are scheduled to occur between 8 am and 5 pm. Powder Mill Road, Ridge Road and Pine Trail may be closed during the burn operation and the public rerouted during this time. If using the trails during this time period, please follow all directions from State Parks staff and obey trail closure notices to ensure everyone's safety.

This 13-acre prescribed burn near the observation platform is part of a long-term strategy at the state park to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire and to maintain rare ponderosa pine sandhills habitat. This rare habitat type relies on fire to maintain a healthy ecosystem and regenerate sensitive species. In addition, this project provides increased fire protection for nearby residential areas.

The work will be dependent on weather that will facilitate smoke dispersal. Over the days following ignition, the burn will be monitored 24 hours a day.  

Burn Updates

May 6, 2024
The Natural Resources crew finished ignitions on Friday before the Saturday rain. For the next few days, they will be patrolling and extinguishing any remaining hot spots. They will finish this clean-up phase on Wednesday and remove the portable tanks and fire hose at that time.

May 3, 2024
Natural Resources crews have finished ignitions on the China Grade Road portion of the plot, and with rain predicted for Saturday morning they will spend today lighting along the Hollow Tree Trail, which is the lower line for the plot. If all goes well, the crews will have reduced the fuels around the edges of this roughly 1,000 acre plot and be in a good position to reduce fuels in the middle of the plot later this year.

Our hope is that this work will reduce fuel loads and prevent a second high intensity fire in this area like what we saw happen in the footprint of the Lockheed Fire, when the CZU Lightning Complex Fire incident reburned that area.

May 1, 2024
This afternoon the relative humidity went outside of the prescription parameters and ignitions were halted. Tomorrow the Natural Resources crews will likely begin lighting concentrations of fuels on the Hollow Tree Trail portion of the plot, which is significantly cooler, wetter, and more sheltered from the wind.

April 29, 2024
We have had very favorable weather for the past couple of days and the Natural Resources crews are looking forward to more of the same. The crews have been able to make progress down China Grade Road ,consuming concentrations of downed branches and trees that were killed in the CZU Lightning Complex Fire, reducing the hazard from these fuels along the road. Crews will continue lighting and patrolling through this week as long as the current conditions continue.

April 24, 2024
The Natural Resources crew had a good day lighting concentrations of heavy fuels along Johansen Road today under cloudy skies that turned to drizzle this afternoon. They will be back tomorrow to do more of the same. 

January 16, 2024
We will start pile burning tomorrow, January 17, through January 24 at Big Basin. The burns will be continuously staffed during this time and will continue as long as there is a permissible burn day. Burning will be along North Escape Rd., Skyline to the Sea, Creeping Forest Trail, the Redwood Loop Trail, Dool Trail, and Meteor Trail. 

Big Basin is open and there will be no trail closures. Burning will happen rain or shine. 

January 8, 2024
We've had a busy start to 2024! Since January 5, we have burned 123 piles at Castle Rock State Park. It’s taking some effort to get the piles lit because it has been so wet recently, but we are making good progress. We hope to finish the remaining 126 piles at Castle Rock in the next three days. 

January 2, 2024
Happy New Year! We will begin pile burning starting tomorrow, January 3, through January 10 at the Fall Creek subunit of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, along the Truck Trail. The burns will be staffed continuously during this time and will continue as long as there is a permissible burn day. As always, permits have been obtained from the Monterey Bay Air Resources District and Cal Fire. Please call Portia Halbert at (831) 251-2883 if you have any questions about pile burning at Fall Creek.

November 8, 2023
The fire crew successfully burned the Twin Oaks grassland plot at Wilder Ranch today with quite the audience! The Mercury News came out to catch our amazing staff in action and a research group from San Jose State University was on site to monitor the effects of the prescribed burn on coyote bush. A Cal FIRE engine assisted too (because teamwork makes the dream work!) and there was good smoke dispersal, so the fire crew was able to remove fuels and protect our grasslands with very little impact to the surrounding community.

Tomorrow the fire crew will continue along the Baldwin drainage, a portion of the park that they have only been able to burn once before a couple of years ago.   

November 7, 2023
More prescribed burns will be happening this week at Wilder Ranch. 

The current plan is to burn 150 acres of Long Meadow-area grassland on Wednesday and Thursday. If there is good smoke dispersal, the fire crew should be finished actively burning by Thursday afternoon. Some trails, including Old Cabin Trail and Long Meadow Trail, will be temporarily closed during firing operations, but these closures shouldn’t last for more than an hour or two. Prescribed burns are a dynamic situation, and we will keep you updated if the plan changes!

The Eucalyptus Loop prescribed fire that began October 11 has minimal smoke observed from within the drainages and is still being actively monitored by firefighters. So far, 186 acres of grass and 115 acres of forest have burned at this site. 

November 1, 2023
The burn at Wilder Ranch continues to smoke far from the control lines. The fire crew are patrolling it again today.

Our Natural Resources staff were able to successfully conduct the prescribed burn yesterday at Año Nuevo State Park thanks to the help of our rangers, who kept people safe on Highway 1 as the fire crew were lighting along its edge. The fire crew then patrolled the plot overnight and worked on burning some large eucalyptus trunks. 

October 30, 2023
The weekend red flag wind event didn’t have a big impact on the Wilder Ranch prescribed burn, with wind gusts only up to 10 mph on site. The fire crew staffed the burn area full time over the weekend and reported no issues. They continued to put out smoking spots and larger pieces of wood within the drainages that were still burning. The fire patrols will continue during the day until the fire is completely out or we get heavy rain.

The prescribed burn at Año Nuevo will happen this week, possibly as early as tomorrow. Burn and smoke permits have been secured. The last component needed is additional staff for traffic control on Highway 1 due to the potential low visibility conditions from the smoke. The burn will be conducted once an appropriate number of staff are available to participate. 

October 27, 2023
Small concentrations of fuel are drying out and continuing to burn in the interior of the treated area at Wilder Ranch. With dry windy weather predicted for this weekend, our Natural Resources staff will increase fire patrols to monitor conditions and take action if needed. They will be on site throughout the day and night through Sunday. After Sunday, staff will reassess and may reduce the fire patrols if the weather becomes more favorable.

October 24, 2023
Things are looking good at Wilder Ranch as the fire crew wraps up the prescribed burn! The smoking root is now out, and the trail was repaired. A couple of small smoking areas were extinguished and most of the fire hoses were removed today. Tomorrow, the rest of the hose will be removed and fire crew day patrols checking the perimeter will be scaled down to once a day.

Please note: part of the burned plot is still smoking, primarily in the western drainage that was lit on Saturday, but the fire crew will keep an eye on it and aren’t concerned.  

Our Natural Resources staff will conduct a prescribed burn at Año Nuevo State Park next, in the coastal prairie between Whitehouse Creek and Cascade Creek on the ocean side of Highway 1. This burn is expected to take one day and will require traffic control on Highway 1. We are currently targeting either the week of October 31 or November 6 for the burn, depending on weather and air quality conditions, and will provide updates on Año Nuevo's social media (Facebook, Instagram), San Mateo Coast State Parks' social media (Facebook, Instagram), and right here, so stay tuned!

October 23, 2023
After the recent rain the forest is too wet to burn, but not damp enough to depend on the fire going out if the meadows are lit, so prescribed burning at Wilder Ranch is on hold for now. 

Next, our Natural Resources staff are looking north towards the most diverse and consistently burned grassland in the Santa Cruz District of California State Parks: The patch of coastal prairie between Whitehouse Creek and Cascade Creek, on the ocean side of Highway 1 in Año Nuevo State Park.

This patch of grass was first burned in the early 1970s as part of a strategy to control gorse (Ulex Europaeus), an invasive exotic species, that was rapidly spreading in this rare plant community. It has been burned almost every other year since, most recently in conjunction with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. While the gorse is under control, prescribed fire is used to continue to help control Harding grass (Phalaris aquatica), which was introduced to improve the forage value of this land prior to its acquisition by State Parks. 

The burn is expected to take one day and will require traffic control on Highway 1. We are currently targeting the week of November 6 for the burn and will provide updates on Año Nuevo's social media (Facebook, Instagram), San Mateo Coast State Parks' social media (Facebook, Instagram), and right here, so stay tuned! 

October 21, 2023
Another productive day at Wilder Ranch as we successfully concluded the eleventh day of our meticulously planned prescribed burn. Collaborating closely with the invaluable assistance of Cal FIRE, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and the dedicated State Parks staff, we efficiently executed the controlled burn, encompassing the final 62 acres of the designated area. Although the smoke dispersal wasn't as optimal as anticipated, this morning's timely rainfall significantly dampened the surrounding fuels, minimizing any potential risk of fire spread within the area for the foreseeable days. Vigilant patrols will persist throughout the weekend and well into the upcoming week to ensure the utmost safety and security of the site. 

October 19, 2023
The prescribed burn along the Eucalyptus Loop Trail in Wilder Ranch continued today! The fire crew was busy putting out all the smoking, smoldering vegetation that is burning near the control line, which is the area within 50 feet of the trail. Almost all of the burning material has been extinguished, except one root burning near the trail that we plan to keep working on.
 

The Santa Cruz area is predicted to get rain Saturday night, so the crew is hoping to burn the rest of the plot, the western drainage area of forest, starting Saturday morning.  

This plan depends on approval from the Monterey Bay Air Resources District. Saturday is listed as favorable burn day with high confidence, so it is likely that the crew will receive the go-ahead to burn. The crew won’t know until Saturday for sure, but they are mobilizing staff and equipment to start that morning and we will keep you posted!