Prescribed Burn To Begin Next Week In PML
Groveland, CA  – Smoke will be visible next week in the Groveland area as a prescribed burn gets underway.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL Fire) Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit will be conducting a prescribed burning operation on the Pine Mountain Lake (PML) Vegetation Management Program (VMP) site, beginning Monday, October 30th. This project is located north of Ferretti Road between Tioga High School and Rocky Point Drive. Burning operations will be concentrated north of Ferretti Road between October 30th and November 3rd.
About 80 acres of annual grasses, oak woodland, and scattered brush in multiple burn units will be ignited. This prescribed burn will reduce understory vegetation, grasses, and noxious weeds, such as star thistle and medusa head, according to CAL Fire officials, adding that this will also “effectively reduce flammable fuels and enhance the fuel break system around the community of Groveland.”
Per Pine Mountain Lake Association officials, the campgrounds and green waste locations will remain open during normal business hours. Smoke will be visible in the area, and there will be road and trail closures around the burn. Those will be listed on public information boards, including a map, at the mailboxes on Ferretti Road across from Baraca Way and on Rocky Point Drive.
The burn hours will run between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., daily. CAL Fire officials noted, “Control lines and established roadways will be used to prevent the spread of fire from areas outside of the burn units. Firefighters will remain on scene during active burning and will be patrolling the area for multiple days after ignitions are complete.”
