We often think of prescribed burns as being low-intensity events, where the flames creep slowly across widely-spaced trees, remaining on the ground, and killing very few of the trees in the area. However, intentional fires can also be applied under more intense prescriptions to kill thickets of dense, small trees, while still leaving the larger trees, alive.
This video documents a late-summer prescribed burn in Nevada County, California, which included a portion of forest which had not been thinned before the area was lit afire.
The prescribed burn demonstrated that cool, moist late-summer conditions can safely reduce heavy fuels in untreated cedar thickets while meeting ecological and fire-safety objectives.
- Zeke covered a prescribed burn in Nevada County conducted on September 2, an unusually early date enabled by a condition-based permit.
- The project tested prescribed fire in an untreated cedar thicket rather than requiring complete pretreatment.
Burn Outcomes
- Fire consumed surface fuels, beetle-killed logs, blackberry, and small cedars without requiring complete mechanical pre-treatment.
- Some torching was acceptable because it removed targeted small trees and flashy fuels; mature-tree mortality was minimized thru careful firing.
- The burn supported future grazing, forage development, open-canopy habitat, and local food and fire resilience.
Operating Conditions
- The September 2 burn proceeded under a permit based on temperature, humidity, fuel moisture, and operator experience rather than calendar-based fire-season restrictions.
- Crews used backing fire, headfire, flanking fire, and previously blackened areas to manage fire behavior.
- Late summer improved consumption of heavy downed logs.
Fire Behavior and Control
- Crews balanced ground-fuel consumption with acceptable mortality of small cedars and stump sprouts.
- Backing fire, headfire, wind, slope, and heat-created local conditions shaped fire behavior.
- Patrol, blackened areas, cool surrounding fuels, and low probability of ignition reduced escape risk.
- Heavy downed logs burned effectively in late-summer dryness but can require extended mop-up.
Management Objectives
- The treatment addressed overcrowding, stormfall, fuels left by PG&E powerline clearance, beetle-killed wood, blackberry, and accumulated leaf litter.
- Desired outcomes included open canopy, more bunch grasses, forage, habitat diversity, grazing potential, and community fire resilience.
- The site had previously received goat grazing, understory cutting, and pile burning; future phases include additional burning and grazing.