Burn Permits No Longer Needed Friday: Fire Season Stats

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Sonora, CA — Following the recent rains and cooler temperatures, CAL Fire will transition out of peak fire season Friday, and no longer require permits for pile burning.

Compared to recent years, it was a relatively quiet fire season, as the CAL Fire Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit responded to 278 fires that charred 937 acres. 61-percent of those wildfires were contained at less than an acre. Statewide, CAL Fire had 5,641 wildfires that burned over 128,000 acres.

CAL Fire TCU Chief, Josh White, says, “I would like to thank our residents and visitors for once again helping to keep the number of wildfire ignitions low.  I would also like to thank all of our firefighters and our cooperating federal, and local firefighters for their dedication, professionalism and hard work.”

Burn permits will no longer be required beginning at 8am on Friday. Burning will be allowed 24 hours per day, on permissive burn days. Now is the preferred time to create and maintain 100 feet of defensible space around buildings.

In Tuolumne County, burning two acres or more in size requires a special permit from the Air Pollution Control District, and in Calaveras County, a permit is required for burning five acres or more in size.

During the upcoming months, CAL Fire will continue to actively focus efforts on fire prevention and fuels treatment projects.