Fire Education | UC Agriculture and Natural Resources

Living with Fire is a challenge in the Sierra Nevada. We live in a fire-adapted ecosystem where wildfires used to burn naturally every 8 to 35 years depending on elevation. Since we started suppressing wildfire over a hundred years ago, Sierra Nevada forests and woodlands have gotten overly dense with vegetation creating fires that move more quickly and kill many more trees than before. Residents of the Sierra must learn to live with fire by living in fire resistant homes with defensible space, and by promoting community-wide fuel breaks and landscape-wide forest restoration with fuels reductions to reduce the risk of wildfire.

UCCE offers a wide range of training opportunities for landowners and land managers including pile burning workshops. Pile burning is an affordable and effective way to dispose of brush and woody vegetation around the home. Learning how to construct and prepare hand piles takes skill and an understanding of safety and technique to minimize the risk of escape. This in-person, hands-on workshop will cover fundamental topics for residential pile burning including:

Demonstration of pile building and burning
Common tools used and relevant safety precautions
How to properly maintain and store common tools
Engaging with local fire and air quality professionals

If you are a member of a Firewise Community, participating in this workshop can count towards your education and training volunteer requirements!

PILE BURNING in Placer & Nevada Counties

Pile burning is an affordable and effective way to dispose of brush and woody vegetation around the home. Understanding local permit requirements is important to conducting safe and legal pile burns. These factsheets are for landowners conducting residential pile burns located in State Responsibility Area (SRA) and provide guidance on CAL FIRE and local Air Quality Management District requirements.

FIRE-SMART LANDSCAPING in the Sierra Foothills

To help residents of the Sierra Foothills interpret and apply defensible space strategies to their own properties, UCCE has created the Fire-Smart Landscaping Guide.
This free publication outlines key principles of defensible space and crucial elements of plant maintenance for fire resilience for common Sierra Foothill landscaping plants.

Fire-Smart Landscaping in the Sierra Foothills

BROADCAST BURNING in Placer & Nevada Counties

Broadcast burning is an effective way to reduce fuel loads and manage vegetation on your property.
Understanding local permit requirements is important for conducting safe and legal broadcast burns.

These factsheets are for landowners conducting broadcast burns located in State Responsibility Area (SRA) and provide guidance on CAL FIRE and local Air Quality Management District requirements.