The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection plans to conduct a prescribed burn Monday under the Foresthill Bridge in Placer County.
The controlled fire will cover 55 acres. The burn will occur directly under the bridge in American River Canyon, about one mile east of Auburn, according to a Cal Fire news release.
The burn will start about 10 a.m. and continue into the evening hours. It will consist of two burn units, one on the east side of the river and one on the west side. Smoke will be visible from Interstate 80, Highway 49, Auburn, Foresthill and surrounding communities.
The prescribed burn is part of an ongoing fuel reduction project to minimize potential wildfire risk. The primary purpose is to reduce hazardous fuel below the Foresthill Bridge, allowing Placer County to safely perform seismic retrofit activities.
Officials said the project serves several other functions, such as allowing firefighters to experience wildland firefighting tactics in a controlled environment and providing a fuel break that can be used to stop or slow a major fire.
Fire engines, hand crews, bulldozers and a helicopter will be used to keep the fire within existing containment lines. Firefighters will work in teams to control the intensity and make sure the fire progresses in a safe manner, according to the news release.
Cal Fire will continue to check the area for several days.
The burn was originally scheduled for June 28 but was postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.
• Read more articles by Cathy Locke
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.