Pile burning planned this week at Montana de Oro and Morro Bay State Parks

MORRO BAY, Calif. - California State Parks announced they will be performing pile burnings throughout this week from Tuesday through Friday.

Firefighters will be burning about 80 piles of brush that were gathered as part of fuel reduction, forest management and restoration projects.

Fires will start as early as 7 a.m. each day and will be out around 5 p.m.

The piles are located in Morro Bay State Park along the Wildland-Urban Interface between Ridgeway Street and Balboa Street. The burn piles in Montaña de Oro State Park are located near Camp KEEP and the environmental camp facilities.

These piles are made and burned in order to reduce fuel loads associated with pine pitch canker, drought, and bug kill in tree mortality areas, to increase forest health and enhance forest resiliency and aid in native plant restoration. This fuel reduction will also hopefully decrease the threat of wildfires near local communities.