THE BURNER IS BACK!
WHO: CAL FIRE and Willow Creek Volunteer Fire Department
WHEN: November 17, 2022 – December 31, 2022 **During Daylight Hrs.**
WHERE: Willow Creek Airport accessed through Big Rock Public River Access Area via State Highway 96 approximately ¼ mile north of the intersection of State Highways 96 and 299.
WHY: To reduce hazardous forest fuel loading in eastern Humboldt and western Trinity Counties resulting from the December 2021 Snowstorm.
In partnership with Willow Creek Volunteer Fire Department, CAL FIRE HUU has assigned an air curtain burner (incinerator) to the Willow Creek area to engage further reduction of hazardous forest fuel loading resulting from the December 2021 Snowstorm.
Additionally, support from Salyer Volunteer Fire Department, the Road and Equipment Maintenance Division of Humboldt County Public Works Department, the North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District, has allowed the possibility of this forest fuel reduction operation.
CAL FIRE HUU will operate an air curtain burner at the Willow Creek airport. This operation is expected to continue until December 31, 2022.
Members of the public are welcome to only bring vegetation material to the air curtain burner where CAL FIRE personnel will burn the material.
Access to the air curtain burner for drop off of vegetative material is through the Big Rock river access and then continuing to the north side of the Willow Creek Airport.
*Please do not drive through the main entrance of the Mercer-Fraser gravel yard where trucking heavy equipment operations are active.
Air curtain burners are an advanced and innovative solution for disposing of wood, brush and other vegetation in an environmentally responsible way. Some of the most important air curtain benefits include the following:
- Air curtain burners include technology that reduces the amount of smoke and particulates released into the outside air.
- Air curtain burners are capable of accelerating the productivity of burning and accepting large diameter wood waste without the need for chipping or cutting.
- Because air curtain burners are portable, they can be moved to areas where the need for fire prevention is most urgent. Their portability makes them an outstanding choice for increasing forest fuel reduction productivity