MENDOCINO Co., 10/16/18 — Cal Fire will be conducting a prescribed burn in the area south of Covelo, tomorrow, Wed. Oct. 17. So if you see smoke or aircraft between the hours of 10 a.m. and a bit after 4 p.m. don’t panic, they are setting things on fire on purpose, and for good reasons. The burn will occur weather permitting.
Cal Fire has not stated exactly where the burn will take place, just that it will be south of Round Valley and east of the 162 — and that there will be many Cal Fire personel and resources in the area to monitor the process. Smoke will be visible in Covelo, and potentially as far away as Willits.
The burn will, in the words of Cal Fire:
The primary goal of this prescribed burn is to reintroduce fire as a natural element of the ecosystem. A second goal is to improve wildlife habitat by inducing new shoots from sprouting species to increase forage production, with islands of unburned fuel left within the burned area to provide shelter for small mammals. A third goal is to reduce overall vegetation to decrease the chance of catastrophic wildfires in the future.
From the Cal Fire press release.
Here is the full press release from Cal Fire:
Covelo-Area-Control-Burn-Scheduled