February 24, 2020 — On Thursday afternoon, northbound travelers at the top of the grade on 101 may have caught sight of a couple of fire trucks, about a dozen yellow-clad firefighters, and a slightly nervous reporter in oversized turnouts, getting a tutorial on how to light a field on fire.
It was the first burn of the year for the newly formed Mendocino Prescribed Burn Association, a loosely organized group of landowners and retired firefighters with outreach and educational support from the UC Cooperative Extension. Its goal is to use fire, not to fight fire, but to prevent it from burning out of control when days are long and hot and dry.
We’ll hear from members of the association about how prescribed burns affect ecology, rangeland, and human health.