MT. PINOS : Controlled Burn Planned Tuesday
Smoky skies over the top of Mt. Pinos in Los Padres National Forest this week are not cause for alarm but signal the beginning of a large prescribed burn, U. S. Forest Service officials said.
The service is planning to torch 150 acres of brush in a densely vegetated 500-acre portion of the forest on Mt. Pinos, where whitethorn brush has become so dense that it is impenetrable by deer.
If weather, wind and humidity conditions are right, helicopters Tuesday will drip a flaming gel over the area, district ranger Mark Bethke said.
“With the helicopters, we can be very exact where we put the fire and we can very easily control the areas we’re burning,” he said.
Burning in the spring minimizes the chance that the fire would get out of control, he said. “but we have extra crews there in the event that something like that happened.”
Burning off the brush will also encourage new growth of plants that are better for the about 500 mule deer that browse in the area and provide better habitat for other wildlife. Smoke may be visible in the area for many days.
For information, call the Mt. Pinos Ranger District at 245-3731.
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