Inside a Prescribed Burn

Have you ever wondered what goes into planning and executing a prescribed burning project? Join a fire monitoring crew inside a recent burn in the Butte County foothills, near Chico, California. The Terra Fuego Resource Foundation, from Chico, wrote the burn plan and provided burn boss. Deer Creek Resources and the Butte County RCD developed the original project layout for the Butte County Firesafe Council, under funding from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. On burn day, Firestorm Wildland Fire provided engines, a fire crew and Burn Boss trainee. The CSU, Chico Ecological Reserves provided a fire engine and crew members. The Watershed Center, from Hayfork, provided a fire engine and two-person crew, under 'all hands all lands' burn crew funding from Cal Fire. The landowner, Higgins Ridge, LLC, paid for most of the contracted labor and equipment, and provided contingency resources and fire-qualified staff to help with the burn. This Lookout video project was supported by Deer Creek Resources. I worked the burn as a fire effects monitor and trainer. My wife and I started DCR in 2011 to do consulting and mapping work around wildfire, water, and forestry issues, and I still work for them on planning and prescribed fire work. If you'd like to learn more about the company, or hire us to help you improve the wildfire resilience of your community, visit http://deercreekgis.com.