Butte County’s Cal-TREX program is set to return this fall, offering fire education and training Oct. 11 to 13 and Oct. 19 to 20. The program will also have an on-call burn window and additional training experience through April 2025.
The event will bring together community members, fire professionals and Tribal leaders, according to a Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve press release. It will allow attendees to gain necessary skills to prescribe fire safely, which can help ecological health and reduce wildfire risk.
The first training, from Oct. 11 to 13, will be held at Maple Creek Ranch in Cohasset.
“[Cohasset] has benefited from extensive prescribed fire and forest management efforts–efforts that played a key role in saving Cohasset homes during the Park Fire,” the event’s Public Information Officer Blake Ellis stated in a press release.
Cal-TREX is partnered with the Mechoopda Tribe, and the event will culminate with a prescribed burn on tribal land at “Wajim Kumbali” in Butte Valley.
The burn will cover around 130 acres of grass on Oct. 19 and 20. Though smoke is expected to be light, the county said it will be possible that some smoke may be visible in and around Paradise and Magalia.
Nathan Chiochios can be reached at [email protected].
