Cal Fire to conduct deliberate burn at Jenner Headlands Preserve

Cal Fire expects to burn understory vegetation at the Jenner Headlands Preserve today and Wednesday to remove ladder fuels in a ridge-top firebreak, the agency said.?The prescribed burn is part of a three-day project begun last week and is expected both days from 10 a.m. to 4 p,m. Firefighters want to reinforce the shaded fuel break established atop the hillside preserve by reducing brush and other plant life that has begun sprouting underneath, the state fire agency said.

The 5,630-acre preserve overlooks the Pacific Ocean just north of the town of Jenner and the Russian River estuary. It is owned by The Wildlands Conservancy, which manages the land in consultation with the Sonoma Land Trust.

The fuel break was initially established below Douglas fir, tanoak, madrone and scattered redwood trees using hand crews and equipment to break up the plant fuel, Cal Fire said. Strict weather, ecological, smoke management and fire safety conditions will govern the fire.

-Mary Callahan