Prescribed Burn
ANZA – Roughly 2,500 acres will be set ablaze over seven to 10 days in a controlled burn near Anza, starting in just over a week, the U.S. Forest Service announced Wednesday.
The operation will be focused around 6,825-foot Thomas Mountain, south of Lake Hemet and just west of Highway 74, according to the Forest Service.
“The San Jacinto Ranger District intends to complete approximately 2,500 acres,” the agency stated. “A prescribed burn of 2,500 acres (also) occurred on Thomas Mountain in the summer of 2023.”
The operation will get underway on June 10 and may continue until June 20, depending on weather conditions, but it could end on June 17.
Smoke from the controlled burn, which is intended to clear dead and excess vegetation that could provide fuel for wildfires, will be visible from the Anza Valley, parts of the Coachella Valley, Idyllwild and areas of northern San Diego County.
Residents and visitors were advised not to be alarmed by the rising smoke columns.
The Thomas Mountain Prescribed Fire project is located immediately west of State Route 74 and the community of Thomas Mountain. It is south of Lake Hemet. Other communities in the vicinity include Idyllwild, Garner Valley, Mountain Center, Pine Cove, Anza, the Santa Rosa Tribe Reservation, the Cahuilla Tribe Reservation and the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Tribe Reservation.
Wildland firefighters will use hand-held drip torches and throw incendiary devices to start ignitions. Personnel in helicopters will use an aerial torch and an unmanned aerial vehicle with a torch will be flown to light vegetation on fire.
The USFS said road closures will be required within the San Bernardino National Forest, but not on the highways coursing through the preserve.
Further information is available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/sbnf/news-events/?cid=FSEPRD1177296
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