Prescribed Fire at Mount Diablo

 Prescribed Burning in 2024

California State Parks will be performing a series of prescribed burns on ten plots of land, totaling approximately 240 acres within the Mitchell Canyon area at Mount Diablo State Park.

  • The burns will take place intermittently from May until December 2024. 
  • When individual burns are scheduled, details will be posted here and on our Facebook page.
  • To be added to the email list for day of burn notifications contact christina.lew@parks.ca.gov
  • All burning depends on weather and air quality conditions. If weather or vegetation conditions are not favorable for burning and smoke dispersal, the department will reschedule the treatment.

 

What is a prescribed fire?

Prescribed fire is planned and includes a written scientific prescription for each burn. The prescription considers weather, available resources, safety, and ability to meet burn objectives or goals. A burn plan must be completed, and each prescribed fire must meet all the conditions identified in the checklist before ignition. 

prescribed fire in grassland at Wilder Ranch

Prescribed fire at Wilder Ranch State Park

Which areas are being burned and when?

State Parks plans to conduct prescribed burning in the grasslands adjacent to the Mitchell Canyon Visitor Center. The treatment area in the Mitchell Canyon area is divided into 10 plots (shown in the map below) totaling 240 acres. The 240 acres will not all be burned at once. Plots will either be burned in the spring (May-June) or fall (September-November). Plots that aren’t burned this spring will be burned in Fall or the following year. After that, the plots will be on rotation to be burned at a regular fire return interval (between 2-5 years) and monitored to ensure we are meeting our burn objectives.

Burn plot map with acreage: 1, 27, 19, 35, 14, 30, 7, 86, 19, 13

Will there be park closures?

Both Mitchell Canyon and Regency entrances in the northern area of the park will be temporarily closed on burn days for visitor safety.

The Mitchell Canyon parking lots and visitor center will also be closed in addition to the following trails: Mitchell Canyon Fire Road, Bruce Lee Road, Water Tower Road, Murchio Road, Oak Road, Coulter Pine Trail, Mitchell Rock Trail, Back Creek Road, Regency Trail, Donner Canyon Road, and Clayton Oaks Trail.

All areas will reopen after burning has been completed.

 

 

 

 How will we limit smoke impact on local communities?

Smoke and flames as prescribed fire burns grassland

State Parks is required to develop a smoke management plan that is reviewed by the Bay Area Air Quality District who ensures compliance with the Clean Air Act. The goals of the plan are to reduce smoke emissions from the fire, promote rapid smoke dispersion, and only allow burning in weather conditions that do not impact smoke sensitive communities such as burning on days when the wind is blowing smoke away from neighborhoods. Personnel onsite will be monitoring weather conditions and smoke dispersion throughout the entire burn to ensure we are seeing the desired smoke behavior. However, even with these measures in place, smoke will still be visible. We ask that on burn days you do not report the smoke you observe from this area.

Meet the Crew

Prescribed burns are conducted by trained fire personnel. The crew of a prescribed fire at Mount Diablo State Park consists of California State Park staff and partners like California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and other local fire agencies. Crew positions include:

  • Burn Boss – is the incident commander who oversees every detail of the prescribed fire. They write plans, organize every aspect, communicate, write the prescription, and lead all personnel.
  • Firing Boss – works for the Burn Boss and oversees the prescribed fire ignition. They manage the ignitions crew and apply fire to the ground.
  • Holding Boss – works for the Burn Boss and leads the holding crew. The holding crew is responsible for keeping the fire within the planned prescribed fire unit

What are the objectives of the Mitchell Canyon grassland prescribed burns?

The objectives of the burn are to manage for invasive species, reduce fuel loading in the wildland-urban interface, promote native biodiversity by providing conditions for plants that are fire adapted, promote nutrient cycling, enhance wildlife habitat, and restore the natural fire regime.