Heads Up – Future Controlled Burn for Cedar Ridge

Last Updated on May 1, 2024 by Bart Hancock

There is a crew out back of my place today cutting a couple of foot trail about 10’ or 15’ from my back property line in preparation for a controlled burn. I talked to one of the forestry workers and he verified that was the case. He had no schedule for the burn, but thought it could take place as early as late May or later if at all this year. Approvals are still needed and the weather conditions have to be right. I have seen no notifications on the Internet.

The neighbors got together in 1999 and successfully protested a previous attempt to burn last time they tried this. They were going to light the fire 15’ on the other side of my property. Everything below 40’ would have been burned and maybe our houses if the burn got out of control. I say our houses because this was just after a controlled burn in Trinity County got out of control and burned 25 homes. Home owners received very little compensation. The forest service is currently planning more controlled burns for this year in Trinity County.

https://fireadaptednetwork.org/burning-across-boundaries-trinity-integrated-fire-management-partnership-case-study/

https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/stnf/fire/?cid=FSEPRD597501

Conditions for a controlled burn are much better here this time because of the clearing that has been done. Remaining trees have been limbed and burn flame height should be minimal so I would expect damage to those trees should be minimal. However, last year a controlled burn near Strawberry got out of control which seems to question the forestry’s capability to positively control them. So, I have mixed emotions. Since I live here full time, most of my worldly possessions are here, particularly my cars which I would move prior to a planned burn. Depending on wind direction, smoke could be overwhelming. After such a burn the landscape would be ugly for a couple of years, but probably not nearly as bad as it would have been in 1999. The result of a successful burn would be to make our places more fire safe and theoretically reduce insurance costs (Ha ha). I have not yet decided if to protest.