Controlled fires on Angel Island were cancelled Wednesday and Thursday because both days were declared Spare the Air Days by the Bay Area Air District.
In a video posted by Cal Fire on Sept. 9, state and Marin County fire officials acknowledged that the burns they conducted on the island on Tuesday impacted some Bay Area communities with smoke. Air quality sensors from Richmond to Berkeley measured smoke in the range of AQI 150, which is considered unhealthy. Oakland was also impacted, although not quite as bad.
The hotter-than-normal temps are only exacerbating the situation. Richmond sent out a heat advisory alert Thursday afternoon warning that temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above normal are expected and advising at-risk individuals to stay indoors with air conditioning if possible.
Tuesday’s controlled burn on Angel Island was conducted by Cal Fire, California State Parks, and the Marin County Fire Department to reduce dangerous fuels, prevent future destructive wildfires, and restore healthy habitat. Officials said they successfully burned 62 acres, eliminating more than 50% of fuels in those areas. They had planned to continue burning acreage throughout the week but adjusted the plans after the smoke impacts.
Graham Groneman, a division chief for the Marin County Fire Department, said the prescribed burn was extremely important and that fire agencies coordinated with the Bay Area Air District well in advance.
“We work closely with the air district to evaluate weather forecasts to try to align these typs of projects with the least impactful weather conditions,” Groneman said. “We really look for those small windows that have the greatest ability to disperse the smoke and the least impactful manner.”
Even so, Tuesday’s burn produced enough smoke to lead to complaints from residents in the East Bay and other regions.
On Wednesday, the air district issued a Spare the Air Day due to high levels of ozone, resulting in the cancellation of the second planned day of prescribed burns on Angel Island.
Groneman said that while smoke did linger over parts of the East Bay on Tuesday, the levels of air pollution would be much worse if an uncontrolled wildfire broke out on land with excessive vegetative fuels.
“I don’t want to minimize the imapact these controlled burns had on our communities,” he said, “but we want to try and identify the process and build some better understanding of what we’re doing, why we’re trying to accomplish this, and why it’s in the best interest of public safety.”
California increasingly relies on controlled burns, called “good fire,” to promote healthy forests and prevent future massive wildfires from breaking out. Wildfires have become a major source of air pollution in the state. Almost six years ago exactly, Oakland residents woke up to eerie orange skies caused by several mega wildfires.
Where to stay cool during Richmond heat waves
Fnding shelter from the heat is easier said than done for those without air conditioning.
For the price of a movie ticket, movie theaters can offer a hot weather escape. Here are movie times at the Cinemark Century Hilltop 16.
Some folks like to cool off wading in the waves at Keller Beach at the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline, but swimmers beware: The water quality sometimes doesn’t meet state health standards.
Many East Bay Regional Parks in west Contra Costa County are well-shaded. Like Miller/Knox, Point Pinole has the advantage of being right on the Bay. Or, the Alvarado park area of Wildcat Canyon offers plenty of shaded trails, a shaded playground and picnic tables and a shallow creek to stroll alongside.
