Strawberry, CA…Evaluation of weather and resource availability supports the continuation of the Stanislaus National Forest Prescribed burn today. More than eighty acres of the project area were treated with fire, building forest resiliency while reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires to communities and the critical infrastructure supporting them. The project will continue through the month of June as resources and weather support the burn prescription.

Located within the Stanislaus Landscape project area, the Strawberry Prescribed Fire operation supports the Forest Service’s 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy – a plan to address the wildfire crisis in the places it poses the most immediate threat to communities. With the plan, the Forest Service aims to treat up to 20 million acres on national forests and grasslands.

Implementing a prescribed burn has extremely stringent parameters including constant measurement of wind, temperature, fuel moisture, humidity, and future weather patterns. As one factor changes the fire management officer will reevaluate the weather. They might need to stop the ignition if it was burning too hot, or humidity is too high and are not getting the consumption of fuels on the ground. The decision would be made to stop the ignition. They are outside of the burn window.

We expect heavy visitor traffic and fire vehicles along the roadway this weekend and ask visitors to drive carefully along the Highway 108 corridor. Visitors to the Mi-Wok/Summit Ranger District area may experience smoke over the holiday weekend and we ask all those visiting the forest to take all appropriate precautions.

We have deployed information officers at several locations along Highway 108 corridor to assist the public with any questions or concerns they have.