Los Padres Forest to conduct scheduled pile burning starting Feb. 26

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. – From Feb. 26 to Mar. 5, the Los Padres National Forest will conduct burning of dead tree and brush piles as conditions permit.

Burning will occur near Figueroa Mountain and various other forest locations which will be updated on Los Padres' Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Most fires will be ignited in the morning and conclude in the afternoon, but some operations may continue though the evening to confirm all flammable materials have been consumed.

Los Padres, in coordination with Air Pollution Control Districts for Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Joaquin and Ventura counties as well as the California Air Resources Board, will try to minimize the impacts of these controlled burns on air quality in surrounding communities.

These controlled burns are used to reduce the risk of wildfires and limit the impact on watersheds and will attempt to use meteorological conditions to direct smoke away from population centers according to Santa Barbara County's Air Pollution Control District.

A state-wide prescribed burn map is available here.