To continue to reduce the threat of wildfire in Los Alamos, the Parks Division, in cooperation with the Los Alamos Fire Department and the Santa Fe National Forest, plans to conduct a series of broadcast and slash pile burning operations this fall and winter. Burning is planned any window of favorable weather conditions between September 15, 2009 and March 30, 2010.

Update, April 30, 2010:  

Pile burning has been suspended until next winter. There may be a broadcast burn during the monsoon season if conditions permit.

Call 663-1776 for more information

Burned piles and burning piles, January 28, 2009

What:

• Burning slash piles in thinned forest areas on Los Alamos County Open Space
• Burning grassy fuel in thinned forest areas

Where:

Proposed locations for 2009-2010:

• Up to 20 acres in Pueblo Canyon below the airport
• 15 acres in Pueblo Canyon below Walnut and Villa Streets
• 5 acres in Walnut Canyon between Walnut Street and San Ildefonso Drive
• 80 acres in Bayo Canyon below the North Mesa Stable Area
• 10 acres in Acid Canyon
• 10 acres in Kwage Canyon east of the North Mesa Stable Area

When:

During periods of favorable weather between September 15, 2009 and March 30, 2010. Broadcast burning may take place in September to November or in March when humidity is moderate, temperatures are cool, and winds are light. Piles will be burned when smoke dissipation is favorable and humidity is high. With favorable weather, burning will take place on up to 20 days. To avoid continued smoke in individual neighborhoods, crews will limit the number of burn days in each canyon to no more than five.

Who:

Los Alamos Parks Division, Los Alamos Fire Department, Santa Fe National Forest wildland firefighters

Why:

After three wet years, grasses present a significant threat of wildfire if drought returns in the spring of 2010. Broadcast burns will reduce these grassy fuels. In other areas, dead and down wood has been piled and covered with water-repellant paper. These areas were thinned by the Fuel Mitigation Project, which used machines to reduce the number of trees.

ISSUES

How is maintenance burning different from prescribed burning?

In prescribed burns, the purpose is often to kill live, standing trees. The County’s maintenance burns are designed to reduce fuel on the surface: grass, pine needles, and dead and down wood. The purpose is to reduce the potential for rapid fire spread that might launch a shower of embers into adjacent neighborhoods.

In a broadcast burn, fire is applied to grass, pine needles, and leaf litter. Flame height is generally less than three feet. Pile burning is a series of isolated stacks of burning woody debris. The chance of fire spread, especially with snow on the ground, is minimal.

How about the smoke generated by the burns?

Burning on County Open Space has taken place during each of the past three winters. Several factors reduce the volume of smoke: the piles are dry and burn quickly, only a small number of piles are burned at one time, and every effort is made to burn under conditions that lift the smoke straight up before it drifts over the landscape. Burning will take place between 8 AM and 3 PM. Anyone concerned about smoke can ask to receive a phone call the evening before the burns so that they may make plans to avoid the smoky area (contact the Parks Division at 663-1776).