Smoke at Painted Cave a Scheduled Pile Burn

PIles of brush are being burned in the Painted Cave area by the County Fire Department. | Credit: Santa Barbara County Fire Department

Santa Barbarans who see smoke rising from the State Route 154 area are most likely seeing the pile burn scheduled for Painted Cave on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 29 and 30. Weather conditions after Monday’s storm dumped nearly two and a half inches at the top of San Marcos Pass make this a good time to clear away accumulated brush. About one acre’s worth of piled vegetation will go up in a project originally organized for early March that will reduce flammables in the area.

Santa Barbara County firefighters will be conducting the burn operation, with the coordination of several other agencies, such as the county air quality district and Los Padres National Forest. Smoke is not expected to drift into populated regions, but Lyz Bantilan of the county Air Pollution Control District advised common-sense precautions, such as avoiding the smoke, an especial concern for anyone suffering sensitivity to smoke.

[Update: March 30] The Trout Club area across the 154 from Painted Cave has been added to the burn schedule for March 30.

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