Prescribed Pile Burns at Los Padres Forest scheduled to begin April 1st

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – Los Padres National Forest will be conducting prescribed pile burnings for the next two weeks starting April 1st, 2025.

From April 1st - 10th, the pile burns will be set to help treat acres of slash from fallen dead trees and brush – ultimately helping to reduce the risk of wildfires. This set of burnings are scheduled for the Painted Caves area, but more burns will occur throughout the spring.

Most burnings are conducted in the morning and conclude in the afternoon, however, the Forest Service says some burning operations may continue through the evening to fully extinguish the flammable material.

The burns will be done when the meteorological conditions are highly favorable to direct smoke away from population centers. If conditions are not as desired, the burn will be rescheduled.

You can find updates on the burns on Los Padres X and Facebook accounts.

This prescribed burn is planned and coordinated by the Los Padres National Forest with Santa Barbara County APCD, San Luis Obispo County APCD, San Joaquin Valley APCD, Ventura County APCD, and the California Air Resources Board to minimize impacts on air quality on surrounding communities.