Prescribed fires this week ahead of storms on Humboldt-Toiyabe, Lake Tahoe basin forests

Taking advantage of statewide moisture in the forecast, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest will conduct prescribed fire operations across several portions of the forest this week as part of the forest’s hazardous fuels reduction effort and active forest management program. Also, weather and conditions permitting, the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team will continue widespread prescribed fire operations this week in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

The projects are located across several districts and consist of pile burning; where hand or machine cut vegetation is stacked into piles, given time to dry out, and lit when conditions allow.

Prescribed fire is one of the most efficient and proactive tools used in forest management and has several benefits, the most important being that it helps protect communities from catastrophic wildfires. Hazardous fuels such as dead and downed wood, unhealthy and overcrowded trees, thick layers of pine needles and continuous brush fields build up over time and cause rapid growth and extreme fire behavior in the event of an unplanned ignition.

By reducing these fuels using low intensity, controlled fire under specific conditions, the behavior and spread of a wildfire in that area can be drastically moderated. Treated landscapes also give firefighters safer places to engage in suppression activities.

Another benefit of prescribed fire is the promotion of a healthy forest. Prescribed fire recycles nutrients back to the soil, minimizes the spread of pests, insects and disease, provides new forage for game, improves wildlife habitat, and promotes the growth of trees, wildflowers and other plants.

“We want to use every opportunity we have to reduce hazardous fuels across the forest using prescribed pile burning,” says Duncan Leao, Forest Fuels and Vegetation Program Manager. “The weather conditions we are anticipating will allow for more areas to fall within our prescription parameters. Overall, this forecast is going to help us be very active for weeks to come and improve healthy forest conditions across a greater area.”

The forest works closely with the National Weather Service when implementing prescribed fire projects, as weather conditions determine when prescribed fire can safely be utilized to obtain the desired results. The considerations taken into account do not just include the weather at the time of ignition, but also the weather leading up to and for an extended period of time after the prescribed fire operations have been completed. Conditions for good smoke dispersal are also taken into consideration, especially when project areas lie within close proximity of communities.

All prescribed fire on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is conducted by trained and qualified professionals who are experienced in the areas of fire behavior and fire management techniques.

Information regarding prescribed fire currently planned for 2021 can be found at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7310/. Answers to commonly asked questions about prescribed fire can be found at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/7310/58958/.

For daily updates on when and where prescribed pile burning is taking place, please visit the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest Facebook (HumboldtToiyabeNF) and Twitter (@HumboldtToiyabe) pages.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Management Unit released the following Monday:

Weather and conditions permitting, the Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team will continue widespread prescribed fire operations this week in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Smoke may be visible. A map with project locations and detailed information is available for viewing here. Sign-up to receive email prescribed fire notifications by sending a request to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

Prescribed fire managers use different methods to reintroduce fire back into our forests that include pile burning and understory burning. Pile burning is intended to remove excess fuels (branches, limbs and stumps) that can feed unwanted wildfires and involves burning slash piles that are constructed by hand and mechanical equipment. Understory burning is low intensity prescribed fire that takes place on the ground (the understory) rather than pile burning.

Understory burning uses a controlled application of fire to remove excess vegetation under specific environmental conditions that allow fire to be confined to a predetermined area. Understory burning produces fire behavior and fire characteristics required to attain planned fire and resource management objectives.

Winter brings cooler temperatures and precipitation, which are ideal for conducting prescribed fire operations. Each operation follows a specialized prescribed fire burn plan, which considers temperature, humidity, wind, moisture of the vegetation, and conditions for the dispersal of smoke. All this information is used to decide when and where to burn.

Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size and environmental conditions. Prescribed fire smoke is generally less intense and of much shorter duration than smoke produced by wildland fires.

Agencies coordinate closely with local, county and state air pollution control districts and monitor weather conditions carefully prior to prescribed fire ignitions. They wait for favorable conditions that will carry smoke up and disperse it away from sensitive areas. Crews also conduct test burns before igniting a larger area, to verify how effectively materials are consumed and how smoke will travel.

Before prescribed fire operations are conducted, agencies post road signs around areas affected by prescribed fire, send email notifications and update the local fire information line maintained by the USDA Forest Service at 530-543-2816. The TFFT gives as much advance notice as possible before burning, but some operations may be conducted on short notice due to the small window of opportunity to conduct these operations.

To learn more about the benefits of prescribed fire, go here.