Recent News Releases
Air Quality Alert for Santa Barbara County
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. — The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department and the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District issued an Air Quality Alert for Santa Barbara County to be in effect until conditions improve. Wildfires throughout California are producing significant smoke. This is a dynamic situation, and local air quality conditions can deteriorate quickly. Stay alert to local conditions by visiting www.ourair.org/todays-air-quality or fire.airnow.gov.
Air Quality Alert for Santa Barbara County
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. — The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department and the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District issued an Air Quality Warning for Santa Barbara County to be in effect until conditions improve. At this time, air quality in Santa Barbara County is expected to continue being affected through the end of this week. An unprecedented number of large wildfires throughout California are producing significant smoke that is being held in the upper atmosphere and is reaching ground level throughout the state. This is a dynamic situation, and local air quality conditions can deteriorate quickly. Stay alert to local conditions by visiting Today’s Air Quality or fire.airnow.gov.
Air Quality Watch Issued for Santa Barbara County
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department and the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District issued an Air Quality Watch to be in effect until conditions improve. An unprecedented number of large wildfires throughout California are producing significant smoke that is being held in the upper atmosphere and is reaching ground level throughout the state. This is a dynamic situation, and local air quality conditions can deteriorate quickly. Stay alert to local conditions and be ready to take action.
Recent Prescribed Burns
Sedgwick Reserve Research Burn to Occur Today
WHAT: Research burn of 3 acres of grasses.
WHEN: October 21, depending on conditions. Burning operations will occur on a permissive burn day.
WHERE: Sedgwick Reserve, Santa Ynez Valley, just east of and adjacent to Figueroa Creek.
Sedgwick Reserve Research Burn Scheduled for This Week
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. — The Santa Barbara County Fire Department will be conducting a research burn on the Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley, just east of and adjacent to Figueroa Creek. The goal of this burn is to study the effects of fire behavior on varying rangeland vegetation types and vegetative loads. Approximately three acres of grass of varying height will be burned.
Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) staff have reviewed the Smoke Management Plan and provided conditions to minimize smoke impacts in Santa Barbara County. The burn will be conducted when the meteorological conditions are highly favorable to direct smoke away from population centers.
Prescribed Burn at UCSB Lagoon Scheduled for Early September
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. — The Santa Barbara County Fire Department, in conjunction with UCSB’s Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration, has tentatively scheduled a one-day Prescribed Burn at UCSB Lagoon near Campus Point with a burn window in early September. This one-day burn is part of ongoing management effort to control non-native grasses and establish native bluff scrub vegetation. Building on successful past burns, this treatment will be conducted on a day within the burn window with the least amount of fog in order to generate enough heat to reduce the viability of the non-native seed bank, and on a day with the best conditions for dispersion.
