U.S. Forest Service firefighters were unable to burn slash piles Jan. 3 and 4, but are now planning to burn slash over the weekend of Jan. 5-6. If conditions allow, burning is planned in the Pingree Hill area, northwest of Rustic.
Conditions are evaluated each day of the burn to determine if ignition will take place. Wind, fuel moisture, staffing and snow cover all play a factor in where and whether ignition occurs.
The last two days have been a good example of how conditions alter burning operations. On Thursday, although there was snow on the ground, it was melting rather quickly. Due to this, there was not enough continual snow cover to allow us to continue after our test burn. Friday weather conditions did not allow for favorable smoke dispersal, keeping us from igniting at all. Firefighters are constantly monitoring conditions at our many pile burning sites to determine where we can successfully burn.
Please continue to check our recorded information lines at 970-498-1030 for the latest information.