County Fire Says Public Will See Planned Burn Details In May
Written by 991KBU on March 8, 2019
Los Angeles fire department officials confirm that he prescribed burn is indeed planned for the Big Rock area … and they promise take the matter before the Malibu community before plans are finalized.
KBUU News first reported yesterday … that state fire officials plan a 400+ acre fire to clear brush.
That was the first word of the proposed prescribed burn … the first burn in Malibu in recent decades.
The state budget includes millions of dollars for brushfire prevention projects … including prescribed burns … construction of fire breaks … removal of hazardous fuels … and protection of key evacuation and firefighting roadways.
35 priority projects have been identified across the state … but 29 of them are in Northern and Central California … and only one in Los Angeles … Ventura or Orange counties.
Cal fire officials told KBUU News this week that other projects in California can be proposed for funding from Sacramento.
And other projects can qualify for state funding … and for the use of California National Guard troops as people power.
But those projects have to be proposed to Cal Fire.
And it appears that no brush clearance projects for the Santa Monica Mountains are in the pipeline … other than the 400 acre controlled burn in Malibu … near Big Rock.
There’s no word on why … but local public safety experts say opposition to fire reduction efforts from the National Park Service and the mountains resource conservation authority has stymied such projects in the past.
Meanwhile … the city of Malibu says the big rock prescribed burn Will go before the mountain city Council in May … and probably happen next fall … when air quality … weather and wild fire protection conditions are just right.
