KERN COUNTY, Calif. (KERO) — The Kern County Fire Department announced that they will be conducting a 'prescribed burn' on Tuesday.
A 'prescribed burn' takes place when firefighters use a wildfire's asset against itself - the flames - to make sure there’s no brush left for it to cling onto and grow rapidly in size. The idea is for crews to get to the dry brush and grass before the wildfires can in the hot dry months ahead.
“It’s been established that the most effective way to provide for public safety, is to burn that dry fuel, that dry grass that’s between Highway 223 and the fuel brake," explained Andrew Freeborn, Kern County Dire Department public information officer. "That means once that fire has burned through there, there’s almost no grass left over. And if there’s no dry grass left over, that means there’s nothing left to burn if a fire were to occur on the roadway.”
The prescribed burn will take place from 4 p.m. until midnight along Highway 223 at Highway 58.
Traffic in that area may be affected and residents may see or smell smoke.