Planned burns to clear fuel sources scheduled for the next two weeks across Los Padres Forest
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – The U.S. Forest Service and the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District are conducting a series of planned burns in the Camino Cielo Ridge area near Painted Cave Road and Highway 154.
The burns are planned during a two-week window beginning Tuesday, Jan. 20 for approximately 57 acres of burn sites detailed the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District in a press release.
The burn schedule will depend on weather and air quality conditions that allow for proper smoke dispersal explained the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District.
The images below, courtesy of the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, shows the locations of the prescribed burns.
Burns started Tuesday morning and alert members of the public have already spotted smoke plumes associated with the fires including Your News Channel's Patricia Martellotti who captured the featured image of this article Tuesday morning.
The Los Padres National Forest shared the image below as they wrapped up the first day of planned fires Tuesday.
According to the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, the prescribed burns are part of fuel reduction efforts through the Santa Barbara Community Defense Zone project and are different than permitted or agriculture burns.
You can check out all prescribed burns managed by professional firefighting agencies statewide here.
For more information about permit burns across Santa Barbara County, visit here.
The image below, courtesy of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, shows the areas allowing permitted burns in the county on Jan. 20, 2026. Each day the burn status map is updated at 4 p.m. for the following day.
