A prescribed burn on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay wrapped up for the day Wednesday afternoon after sending smoke into the air that could be seen elsewhere around the region.
Cal Fire, the Marin County Fire Department and California State Parks began a planned burn of 260 acres at Angel Island State Park on Sept. 8 but paused it because of weather conditions after burning about 62 acres.
Another period with favorable weather conditions opened up Wednesday, and an additional 85 acres were treated before burning stopped at about 2:15 p.m., according to Naftali Moed from California State Parks.
No more burning is planned for the remainder of this week, and firefighters will look for another time in the near future to finish the remaining 100-plus acres of the planned burn, Moed said.
Angel Island is the largest island in San Francisco Bay and is home to a shuttered immigration station and other historic sites, as well as park campsites and other facilities.
Smoke coming from the island could be seen elsewhere around the Bay on Wednesday. The cities of Richmond and San Pablo each sent out alerts notifying residents of the planned burn because smoke was visible from the East Bay.
In a video shared by Cal Fire, Division Chief Sean Jerry from the agency’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit said the burn is meant to “prevent future catastrophic fires on the island.”
Marin County Fire Division Chief Graham Groneman said in the video that getting rid of dry vegetation and other fuel for wildfires can also help reduce the amount of resources authorities have to commit to any fire burning on the island.
“It makes what might require 10 engines only need two or three,” Groneman said.
Moed said light smoke from the fire may remain while crews remain on site Wednesday evening and into Thursday.
The state park remained open during the burn, though some trails were closed, as was access to the summit of Mount Livermore on the island.