Firefighters with the Santa Barbara County Department completed a controlled burn at the lagoon on UCSB’s campus on Thursday.
The controlled burn planned for the UCSB Lagoon near Campus Point on Thursday was successful, according to Santa Barbara County Fire.
The eighth of its kind, the burn aims to restore native vegetation and get rid of annual grasses and weeds, which can pose a fire risk.
These controlled fires have been occurring every other year since 2007, and the final burn should be four years from now, authorities said.
Spearheaded by the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration, the project is attempting to convert the soil and replace all the light grasses with 13 native species of wildflowers, according to Capt. Daniel Bertucelli with County Fire.
He told the News-Press the burns aren’t a high fire hazard — there aren’t any structures nearby and it’s close to the beach. He said if the area was up in the hills, the department would not permit the project.
Lyz Hoffman, spokeswoman for the county Air Pollution Control District, told the News-Press that the burn began around 10:30 a.m. Thursday and wrapped up around 11:40, so it was a little over an hour.
She also reported no air quality issues, and that the temporary monitor on scene showed good conditions prior to, during and after the burn.
The fire department and the APCD conducted the fire according to highly favorable meteorological conditions with the least amount of fog, to direct smoke away from populated areas.
As a result, the APCD didn’t receive any air quality complaints.
email: gmccormick@newspress.com
