City-State to Burn Brush in MB State Park

Folks in south Morro Bay get ready to hold your breath, State Parks and the City again plan to burn piles of leaf litter and debris in Morro Bay State Park.
State Parks in cooperation with the Morro Bay Fire Department and the County Air Pollution Control District, announce plans to conduct prescribed pile burns of diseased, dead and downed Monterey pines in the Black Hill area of Morro Bay State Park.
The burns will occur when weather conditions permit between March 3 and April 30. Preparation of the burn piles is taking place now.
This burn is part of State Parks’ “Hazard Fuel Reduction and Prescribed Fire Program” for vegetation management, fuel load reduction and structure protection to numerous residences and businesses in Morro Bay, reads a press release from the City.
“Monterey pines are experiencing major die-offs due to pine pitch canker disease and prolonged years of drought,” the release reads. “Burn pile operations will be conducted to maintain defensible space on areas adjacent to neighborhoods and park facilities per Morro Bay Fire Department permit conditions. This treatment will greatly reduce dead, downed and diseased fuels in the wildland-urban interface, decrease potential for wildfires, enhance the health of the native plant communities, encourage increased species composition, restore essential nutrients to the soil, and aid in the control of pine pitch canker.”
The burns are always run past the APCD and the state Air Resources Board to try and minimize the impacts from the smoke on nearby residents. The burn is held when weather and air quality conditions are favorable for smoke dispersal but not too windy, lest the embers from the fires get out of hand. If the conditions are not as desired, the burns will be rescheduled.
State Parks will issue a Media Advisory 12-24 hours ahead of the actual burn date and the fire department will post updated information on Facebook and Twitter, post flyers in the affected neighborhoods, and place reverse 911 calls to notify nearby residents. And the APCD will monitor the air quality and give alerts on its website, as well. See: www.slocleanair.org or call 781-4390.