Firefighters on the Plumas National Forest Feather River Ranger District plan to start prescribed burning operations tomorrow, Wednesday, May 7, northeast of Paradise Lake and south of Skyway and Hupp Coutolenc Road near Magalia, conditions permitting.
Approximately 40 acres of pile burning and underburning is planned in the area near Green Ridge Place and Brezo Way. An additional 10 acres are planned for the same treatment on National Forest System lands directly across the lake, east of Skyway. Ignitions are expected to start around 10 a.m. and may continue through Thursday.
In addition to the Plumas National Forest, firefighters from the Lake Tahoe Basin Management unit, Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity, Six Rivers and Tahoe National Forests, Bureau of Land Management Redding Field Office, CAL FIRE Butte County Fire Department and Firestorm Wildland Fire Suppression, Inc., will be working on the prescribed burning operations for the next several days.
Butte County Fire Safe Council’s work on fuel reduction and preparing the area for pile burning and prescribed burning funded by a USDA Forest Service grant is making the operations possible.
Smoke is expected to be visible from Magalia, Paradise, Chico and the Sacramento Valley, but is not expected to have significant long-term impacts to nearby communities.
Short duration, minor smoke impacts are expected in Paradise Lake and nearby neighborhoods in Magalia, as well as Skyway, Hupp Coutolenc Road and along neighboring forest roads. Visibility on roads in the project area may be reduced, especially early in the morning and late evening as smoke settles.
Firefighters will make efforts to reduce smoke impacts to nearby communities. This includes planning to stop ignitions earlier in the day and monitoring weather conditions.
Area residents and visitors sensitive to smoke may want to be prepared for potential smoke impacts and take measures to reduce exposure.
There will be increased firefighting equipment traffic in the area. Drivers should watch for fire equipment exiting and entering roadways and possible slow traffic in the area for the next several days.
