Prescribed Pile Burning Underway on Okanogan-Wenatchee Nat’l Forest

Prescribed burning on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest is now underway.

Burning operations began Tuesday and will continue throughout the month of November.

Spokesperson, Robin DeMario, says all the burns are similar in nature.

“Most of the operations are burning of what we call hand piles. These are piles of organic material that are stacked up by hand and left to dry so that we can come back later once those piles have dried out and ignite them and remove that fuel from the forest floor.”

DeMario adds that even though the burning will be ongoing over the next month, it will most likely be intermittent.

“Each of these burns is contingent upon the weather. So some days we can burn and other days we can’t.”

The burns are happening on the Chelan Ranger District near the site of last summer’s 25-Mile Fire, the Methow Ranger District ten miles northeast of Twisp, and in the area of 2021’s Schneider Springs Fire on the Naches Ranger District.

No smoke impacts are expected in populated areas, however, smoke might be visible from some nearby cities and towns.