Warm Weather Puts Hold on Mountain Fire Plans

A thousand-acre fire that foresters planned to set Tuesday in the Santa Ana Mountains was postponed because of warm weather, said Bill Pidanick, spokesman for the Trabuco Ranger District of Cleveland National Forest.

The fire was supposed “to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire by clearing out the old growth vegetation,” Pidanick said. The controlled burn would also make way for new growth, creating a mosaic of plant life of varying types and ages.

But Tuesday’s warm weather prompted officials to put off the planned burn, probably until the first week of June, Pidanick said. “It will depend an awful lot on how busy the county Fire Department gets, and how busy we get.”

He said that the planned fire could be postponed until next year.