[UPDATE 9:46 a.m.] Don’t Worry, the Smoke Northwest of CR Is From BLM Burning Slash

Thursday, 3 February 2022, 9:37 am Kym Kemp Leave a comment

Smoke rising from slash piles northwest of College of the Redwoods. [Photo by Sarah Easler]

A reader contacted us saying she could see flames and smoke from west of Hwy 101 between College of the Redwoods and Fields Landing. “[M]ultiple people [were] taking pictures from the highway,” she told us.

We contacted Cal Fire and Battalion Chief Marty Hobbs told us that the smoke and flames were from slash piles belonging to BLM.

UPDATE 9:46 a.m.: BLM sent out a press release saying,

Smoke on the South Spit, Humboldt Bay today will be from a Bureau of Land Management prescribed fire project to remove piles of grasses and small plants that were removed earlier in projects to improve coastal dunes and grasslands.

Burning in a 20-acre project area will start at 10 a.m. and continue through 5 p.m. Residual smoke may linger for a day after burning.