Prescribed burn at Jack London park a ’success’

A planned prescribed burn operation took place at Jack London State Historic Park, in Glen Ellen, on Friday morning, Dec. 11.

Such intentional burns are part of the prescribed fire program for vegetation management, hazardous fuel load reduction, wildlife habitat improvement and other ecological benefits.

Cyndy Shafer, the Bay Area natural resource program manager for State Parks, described the burn as “successful,” saying it was the first prescribed burn in the park in about 20 years.

The burn operation began at 10:15 a.m. and involved about 30 personnel from California State Parks, Cal Fire, the Sonoma Valley Fire District and Sonoma County Regional Parks.

“We are lucky to have so many partners working together to manage lands with prescribed fire in Sonoma Valley,” said Shafer.

The burn operation itself ended about noon, but mop-up continued thereafter.

A few trails near the burn area, including Old Fallen Bridge Trail, were temporarily closed the day of the burn. People traveling near the fire burn areas reported seeing smoke in late morning and midday on the day of the burns.

The prescribed burns are planned and coordinated with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in order to minimize the smoke impacts on surrounding communities. All burning depends on weather and air quality conditions that are favorable for smoke dispersal.

Prescribed burns produce significantly less smoke than a wildfire does.