CAL Fire Suspending Burning This Week

Sonora, CA — The time window is very short to finish up burning ahead of the summer fire season.

CAL Fire announces that residential burning of landscape debris will be suspended at 8am on Tuesday for Tuolumne, Calaveras and eastern Stanislaus counties.

CAL Fire reports that warmer spring and summer temperatures, and a reduced snowpack, will put stress on vegetation, and potentially result in a challenging fire season.

“California wildfires continue to threaten our communities,” said Chief Joe Tyler, CAL FIRE Director. “With the conditions set for an early start of the 2022 fire season, it is imperative that we collectively take preventative steps now to prepare, and we ask all Californians to do their part in wildfire preparedness.”

CAL Fire Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit Assistant Chief Charles Blankenheim adds, “Conditions across the unit continue to be warm and dry, while community members exercise wildfire preparedness measures by creating defensible space and hardening their homes. It is imperative these actions are conducted in a safe manner by utilizing alternatives to burning such as green waste disposal or chipping.”

Here are some tips from CAL Fire to help prepare homes and property:

• Clear all dead and or dying vegetation 100 feet from around all structures.

• Landscape with fire resistant plants and non-flammable ground cover.

• Find alternative ways to dispose of landscape debris like chipping or hauling it to a biomass energy or green waste facility