This fall, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department plans to conduct prescribed burns for strategic wildland fuel reduction purposes east of Santa Maria in Tepusquet Canyon near Tepusquet Road. The Santa Barbara County Fire Department tentatively plans to burn 289 acres of brush and oak understory over a two-day period. These burns are part of an ongoing management effort to control non-native grasses and establish native bluff scrub vegetation. Prescribed fires typically burn less intensely than wildfires and can help prevent their spread.