Residents in south Reno and the Galena area should expect to see and smell smoke from prescribed burning starting Monday. Feb. 8, according to Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District. TMFD said they’ve planned the prescribed fire for the next several days, weather and air quality permitting.
Burning of piles will take place off of Joy Lake Road in terrain that doesn’t permit mechanical access for chipping and mastication. TMFPD said the prescribed fire is necessary to reduce fuels in the area and is the most effective method of creating defensible space in the area.
“Ultimately, these fuels will burn,” the agency said in a statement. “The choice is whether it is on nature’s terms or ours.”
TMFPD said it will have 9-12 hand crew firefighters on site, along with a fire engine to attend to the burning “at all times, 24/7.” It also said it has completed “comprehensive planning and risk analysis prior to the implementation of this burn,” which will be overseen by Burn Bosses from both Nevada Division of Forestry and TMFPD.
“The burn’s risk is extremely low given the winter conditions and ground snow coverage.”
Fire experts note that fuels management and prescribed fire is important to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire, add nutrients back into the soil, and reduce the number of weakened trees so they’re not competing against healthy trees for nutrients. Wildland fire agencies also note that the cost to taxpayers to conduct prescribed burns is far less than the costs for fighting uncontrolled wildfires.
Fire is also considered part of a healthy ecosystem in the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada. TMFPD said the region’s dry climate doesn’t allow for effective decomposition processes to eliminate fuels, and over millions of years the region’s ecosystem has become reliant on fire to dispose of those fuels.
TMFPD said further questions can be directed to 775-326-6071.
SOURCE: Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District
