Burn Day and defensible space tips in this issue of the Fire Safe Councils of Placer County newsletter

Placer County, California sent this bulletin at 05/11/2023 12:58 PM PDT

FIRE SAFE COUNCILS OF PLACER COUNTY

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It’s a Burn Day, here are the details for burning

By Daisy Perault and Ann Hobbs

Placer County Air Pollution Control District

530-745-2330

The day is clear, there is a light wind, the vegetation is dry, and it might be a good burn day. What else do you need to know?

In Placer County, residential outdoor burning can be an effective way to reduce vegetation amounts and increase fire resiliency on your property when used in the right place at the right time.

The Placer County Air Pollution Control District staff works with residents to provide for residential backyard/outdoor burning in most of the unincorporated areas of the county along with the cities of Auburn and Colfax and the Town of Loomis.

While a residential burn permit is NOT required from the Air District, a permit may be required from CAL FIRE or your local fire agency. Only dry vegetation, free from dirt can be burned on a Burn Day. Burn Day information is updated daily by 8 a.m. and can be found at https://www.placerair.org/burnday or by calling 530-889-6868 (Greater Auburn area) or 1-800-998-BURN (all other areas).

CAL FIRE residential burn permits are not required year-round in Placer County although they can be obtained yearly and are valid from May 1 – April 30 (https://www.fire.ca.gov). CAL FIRE requires permits beginning May 1, or earlier if the unit chief declares fire hazard conditions have been met. In areas outside of CAL FIRE’s jurisdiction, contact your local fire agency for their burn permit requirements.

When the burning you want to do is not residential backyard burning and can include agricultural, land development, range improvement, and prescribed burning a year-round air district permit is required. Contact the Placer County Air Pollution Control District at 530-745-2330 or pcapcd-BurnPermit@placer.ca.gov to obtain a permit or information.

When burning, it is important to remember the following:

· Check the Burn Day status to find out if it is a Burn Day

· Check with your local fire agency, including CAL FIRE for any of their burn permits or requirements

· Cover your piles to keep them dry before wet weather happens

· Burn dry vegetation, free from dirt – it burns with less smoke

· Burn when smoke will not impact your neighbors – no one wants to be intentionally smoked out

There are several alternatives to burning in Placer County including chipping, green waste pickup, and self-drop off stations. Learn more about residential green waste programs at https://placerair.org/8145/Residential-Green-Waste-Programs.

For more information on Burning and other Activities of the Air District check out our website at https://www.placerair.org.

Join us for a conversation about air pollution and burn permits

The Placer Air Pollution Control District will be the special guest speaker at the upcoming Fire Safe Alliance meeting taking place at 10 a.m. on May 18. APCD will provide an in-depth look at their organization, burn permits and other important topics related to wild fire preparedness. Be sure to bring your questions! Let us know if you want to attend, please contact us at
fireready@placer.ca.gov.

Creating defensible space:
Quick tip on shrub maintenance

By Kevin Marini, UCCE Placer/Nevada Community Education Specialist

krmarini@ucdavis.edu

Since we know that maintaining our landscape plants, shrubs and trees is a crucial step in creating defensible space around your home, it is imperative to inspect shrubs growing around your home for dead material underneath what may appear to be solid, healthy growth.

This commonly occurs in hedged shrubs where the new growth is occurring at the ends of the branches which can disguise the dead and dying material within the shrub. Also, certain species of shrubs like Juniper (see picture) can accumulate a lot of dead material underneath the canopy.

We know that embers can be cast from far off distances, fall into our landscape and catch dead and dry plant material on fire. Hedges and unmaintained shrubs can easily be a “catch” for embers and quickly catch fire.

So get out there with some gloves and a long sleeve shirt and really inspect your hedges and shrubs! Prune out dead, dying and diseased parts year round to maintain healthy plants and lessen fire hazards around your home.

Know the zones around your home

By Dory Cox

Did you know that Zone One, as known as the "intermediate zone", is the area 5 feet to 30 feet around your home?

Here's what you need to know to keep your property safe:

· Remove all dead plants, grass, and weeds (vegetation)

· Trim trees regularly to keep branches a minimum of 10 feet from other trees

· Relocate wood piles to Zone Two

· Remove or prune flammable plants and shrubs near windows

· Create a separation between trees, shrubs, and items that could catch fire, such as patio furniture, wood piles, swing sets, etc.

There are currently 74 active Firewise Communities in Placer County, with 12,611 households participating in a Firewise Community. If you'd like to join a community or create your own, please contact us at: fireready@placer.ca.gov or 530-886-FIRE (3473) or visit the Ready For Wildfire site.

Get to know your Placer Prescribed Burn Association

By Cordi Craig

Placer Prescribed Burn Association is dedicated to building wildfire resiliency one acre at a time.

Placer PBA trains community members and private landowners to gain the capacity, skills, and knowledge to return fire to the landscape by establishing strong roots in education, collaboration, and action. Through collaborative partnerships with Tribes, land stewards, and federal, state, and local agencies, we are building a foundation for the continued application of safe, legal, and ecologically beneficial prescribed burns.

This past winter, between November 2022 and May 2023, Placer PBA has taught seven prescribed fire workshops, training approximately 150 community members in the safe, legal, and ecologically beneficial use of fire.

Through training and demonstration burns, Placer PBA has burned more than 15 acres in broadcast burns and 3 acres of pile burns, equipping landowners with necessary on-the-ground experience. To learn more or join Placer PBA, contact Cordi Craig at cordi@placerrcd.org, or visit our website, here.

The Curious Gardner:
The Dance of Defensible Space

Get to know the different defensible space zones that surround your property with The Curious Gardner's article, "The Dance of Defensible Space." The Curious Gardener is published quarterly by the University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Placer and Nevada Counties. Learn more

The City of Auburn Fire Departments presents “Stop the Ember,” the first-ever Community Wildfire preparedness Festival in the City of Auburn.

This event will be held at on May 13 from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the Gold Country Fairgrounds and will be a celebration of Auburn’s groundbreaking community effort to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire.

The festival will be an immersive experience, featuring hands-on activities, live demonstrations, entertainment for all ages, and food!

Event organizers will be featuring presentations on pressing wildfire topics from groups such as Red Cross, Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety, Auburn Police Department, the United Auburn Indian Community, and more!

Come out and enjoy FREE food, games, activities, jump houses, dunk tank, cotton candy, snow cones, and so much more.

Auburn Fire Department and local businesses are coming together to host this amazing free event for our community. Linnsey's Cleaning Services, Grocery Outlet Auburn, Sierra Pro Home Services, Stenius Real Estate, AR 17 Land & Tree Inc, Gina Marie's Custom Desserts, Hall's Towing, Samtani Travel, Kids Ninja Warrior, Card My Yard Penryn, Macpherson Makery LLC, and Elder Care Specialist.