Yolo PBA to Host Grassland Burn in Rumsey, CA in May 2025
The Yolo Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) is hosting a prescribed fire in Rumsey, CA in mid to late May (weather dependent) to manage hazardous fuels and invasive yellow starthistle in a grassland on private land. Smoke may be visible from Highway 16 in Rumsey. If you see smoke, please do not report. Folks can track ongoing prescribed fire (and wildfires) on WatchDuty, a free, real-time wildfire information app and website. The 15-acre broadcast burn adds to the larger Rumsey Buffer project, spearheaded by the Yolo County Fire Safe Council, to create an area of reduced vegetation around the town of Rumsey in northwest Yolo County. This prescribed fire project adds another 15 acres to a reduced vegetation buffer around Rumsey, CA which currently consists of multiple shaded fuel breaks and roadside fuel reduction projects.
In the last decade, western Yolo County has seen increased threat from catastrophic wildfire. To reduce the threat of wildfire to communities and natural and cultural resources, the Yolo County Resource Conservation District (RCD) created the Yolo County Fire Safe Council and the Yolo Prescribed Burn Association to plan and manage projects that would address hazardous vegetation (like overgrown trees, and shrubs, invasive weeds, and dry, annual grasses) that fuel fast moving, dangerous wildfires. The Yolo Prescribed Burn Association is a community network of landowners, trained wildland firefighters, and community volunteers centered around education and training to use “good fire” as a land management tool.
To facilitate a safe and effective burn this May, trained staff from Yolo County RCD are working with a California Certified Burn Boss to develop and implement a burn plan, a precise prescription that outlines specific conditions under which the fire will be set to achieve desired goals. The burn site is on private land in a grassland that consists of annual, non-native grasses and invasive weeds which dry out by mid-summer, creating abundant and continuous fuels that can propel wildfire across the land. Prescribed fire, when applied under the correct conditions, is low to moderate intensity fire that reduces fuels while benefiting the ecosystem. Benefits of prescribed fire in grasslands include controlling invasive plants, promoting native, climate adapted plants, cycling nutrients into the soil, and reducing wildfire risk.
This training burn is open to anyone interested in actively participating or observing. Everyone is welcome, regardless of experience or background. To register, please visit https://tinyurl.com/Rumsey-RxFire-2025 or email Bailey Adams, Yolo PBA Coordinator, at adams@yolorcd.org. An exact address and event details will be provided via email to folks that are registered. To stay up to date with all volunteer, training, and burn opportunities with the Yolo PBA, please sign up for our emailing list at https://yolorcd.org/what-we-do/yolo-pba/.
