With another unusually early start to the wildfire season, due to a mostly dry winter and spring, outdoor residential burn permits are now suspended for Nevada, Yuba, Sierra and Placer counties, starting May 23rd. That’s just one day sooner than a year ago. CAL FIRE Public Information Officer, Mary Eldridge, says although burning is the main and most efficient method of clearing vegetation fuels, there isn’t as much time to do it, with the longer fire seasons. So alternatives will need to be used more for creating defensible space and hardening homes…

click to listen to Mary Eldridge

Other tips include landscaping with more fire-resistant plants and non-flammable ground cover. Eldridge says the earlier residential burning suspensions should also serve as a reminder to start clearing as early as possible, when conditions are safer…

click to listen to Mary Eldridge

CAL FIRE may also issue restricted temporary burning permits, if there is an essential reason, due to public health and safety. Agriculture, land management, fire training, and other industrial-type burning may also proceed, if an official inspects the site and issues a special permit.