Rx Fire Updates

For up-to-date messaging on prescribed burns in the Santa Cruz District,
be sure to follow us on social media!  See below for more information.

Latest Press Releases

Rx Fire Updates

January 26, 2026
Yesterday (Jan 25), State Park crews began efforts to extinguish (mop-up) any hot spots/smokes within the burn plot. We’re optimistic that by this evening we’ll have this burn plot out cold and will be able to start the de-mobilization process which includes pulling signs, hose, water tank and rehabbing control lines. 

January 23, 2026
Crews continued burning heavier fuels along the burn plot’s edge and will be monitoring the burn through the evening. Parks staff will be patrolling 24/7 through the weekend as there are still several hot spots and smokes that will extend for the next several days. By Monday, we’ll start to increase efforts in mopping up or extinguishing the fire. We’re currently anticipating wrapping this thing up and getting the plot fully extinguished by early/mid next week. 

January 22, 2026
Today was a day spent focused on burning up some of the heavier and higher concentration of fuels along the perimeter of the burn plot in effort to better secure the fire control lines. Though not nearly as glamorous as the days spent with drip torches setting fire to things, days like today are critical in the successful implementation of these burns. Big shout out to the crew for the hard work!

Parks staff will be patrolling the burn through the evening and tomorrow will begin mopping up (extinguishing) hot spots along the perimeter.

January 20, 2026
We managed to light all of our 13 acre plot at the top of Nisene Marks today with the help of CalFire and Mid Pen. This resulted in a low intensity burn in most of the plot and complete consumption of all of our remaining piles in this area. Our crews will be monitoring the burn around the clock until it’s out which we expect may take as much as ten days. 

January 19, 2026
We have put out all the burn piles at Big Basin. 

We are now prepared to light a 13 acre broadcast burn at Nisene Marks tomorrow. We are waiting on final air quality approval which won't come until tomorrow at 7am, but tomorrow is listed as a burn day, and we are hopeful. If you see smoke coming from the ridge above Santa Cruz in the Aptos area, that's us. 

January 17, 2026
We had a great day burning piles in the Old Growth Loop. A total of 52 piles were burned by both Natural Resources Crews and two CalFire crews. We are grateful for all the docents and interpreter staff who were there to interpret to the public. 

If you missed it today and are interested in seeing a whole bunch of burn piles on fire, come join us in a couple weeks at Henry Cowell on Jan 31.  

Tomorrow and Monday we will finish up the piles on Lodge Rd before we head to Nisene Marks for our broadcast burn. 

January 16, 2026
Today, our third day of burning piles at Big Basin went well, we lit the remaining 25 piles and revisited all the piles from Wednesday and Thursday. 

Revisiting them is called bone piling. This consists of restacking the partially burnt logs and adding some more logs, twigs and leaves to get the pile to light again. I like to think of it as a great game of pick up sticks which we do over and over and over again.  

Tomorrow we pivot to the Old Growth Loop where we will burn 52 piles made by volunteers!

January 15, 2026
Today’s burning was a little spicier with the last week of warm weather and dry conditions making the fuel surrounding the piles more likely to burn. Nothing worrying - just not the cake walk that yesterday was. We were able to burn 45 more piles nevertheless. 

Tomorrow we have another 25 piles or so to finish up before we shift to the old growth loop on Saturday. 

January 14, 2026
Pile burning today went remarkably well, almost couldn’t ask for better conditions. We lit 35 large piles and will continue burn through the rest of the week. As always, we will staff them until they are out. 

Looking forward to Saturday's burn pile day in the Old Growth Loop.

January 13, 2026
Tomorrow we begin a round of pile burning at Big Basin. We will be starting with piles up on Lodge Road and on Saturday we will shift to the Old Growth Loop for a day of outreach to the public while we burn the volunteer created piles. All trails will be open. 

Even more exciting than our pile burning is that the weather is looking good for a 13 acre broadcast burn at Nisene Marks on Tuesday, January 20th. Burning will be in cooperation with CalFire and will take a day of ignitions. Burn down will take a couple more days. If Tuesday, doesn't work out--we will try for Wednesday and so on. There are a lot more moving parts to that burn and it will only happen if all the conditions line up for it. If conditions don't line up we will continue to burn piles at Big Basin through Wednesday of that week. 

January 8, 2026
California State Parks will conduct pile burning at Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County beginning January 14th. Monitoring and patrol will occur throughout this period and extend into the evening when required. All burning is dependent on weather and air quality conditions that are favorable for smoke dispersal and to meet ecological goals. If conditions are not conducive for burning, burns will be rescheduled. 

Past Updates & Archive

2025 | 2024 | 2023