Starting October 13th, 2025, Terra Fuego Resource Foundation, in partnership with American Rivers, will begin implementing prescribed fire activities as part of the Hoyt-Purdon Fuel Reduction and Prescribed Fire Project. This season, prescribed pile burning and broadcast burning will occur on ~ 200 acres 3 miles northwest of Nevada City off of Augustine Rd. This week, prescribed fire activities are anticipated to occur over approximately 5 days or until weather conditions become unfavorable, followed by a period of post-burn mop-up and monitoring to ensure fuels are extinguished. Operational periods are 9am to 8pm daily.
Smoke will be visible from the South Yuba River Canyon and adjacent rural roads. Smoke impacts are anticipated to be minimal in the day time and will be carefully , and efforts will be taken to reduce impacts to communities. Smoke impacts are anticipated to fluctuate over the course of the day, with smoke lifting during the warm daytime and settling during the colder nighttime. Thus, we predict smoke impacts to be greatest during evening, nighttime and mornings. We anticipate smoke impacts for ~3-7 days. Rain is forecasted, which will put fires out and clear the air. Overall, there will be some short duration of smoke associated with critical prescribed fire activities to improve resiliency to catastrophic fire and associated smoke impacts.
The prescribed burn is part of the 517-acre Hoyt-Purdon Fuel Reduction and Prescribed Fire Project, which includes hand and mechanical thinning and prescribed fire between Nevada City and the South Yuba River, funded by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. The project includes prescribed fire to bolster the resiliency and defensibility of adjacent communities and the South Yuba River to wildfires.