MENDOCINO CO, 5/31/25 – Cal Fire will implement a prescribed burn along U.S. Highway 101 between Ukiah and Willits starting Monday, the fire agency said.
The burn will take place over the course of a month. Approximately 400 acres of grass along Highway 101 will be treated, Cal Fire said.
The project will start Monday at Nelson Ranch Road south of Ukiah and wrap up by July 2 at the top of Ridgewood Grade south of Willits.
Burning will take place from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Smoke and aircraft may be visible in the burn area.
According to Cal Fire, the project will reduce dry fuels along the highway, increasing driver safety while decreasing the likelihood of dangerous wildfires. The burn is part of the state’s ongoing fuel reduction program.
Burning will take place from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. daily, unless it gets away from us, in which case prepare to take a vaca to the coast because the smoke will be unhealthy and unbearable…
(Satire)
Why would they do this with the winds the way they are? I’ll be praying 🙏
Anyone who has worked doing control burning will tell you that without a good amount of wind it is impossible to get most vegetation types to burn burning the months of May & June.
Only after the second or third week of July do things dry out enough to burn easily without wind. That is why control burning is not normally conducted after the first week of July. Its too dangerous then.
The window for successful control burning is a short one, usually just 3 or 4 weeks in June.