Full Notification

Drift smoke from the West Marin controlled burn is impacting Marin County. You may smell or see smoke. Please only call 911 if you see a visual building column of smoke or fire where fire department resources are not at the scene.   

Controlled Burn at Martin Griffin Preserve, West Marin this Sunday

**Smoke and Traffic Advisory for West Marin** Please do not call 911. 

Today, October 20^th  a 9.5-acre controlled burn will be conducted at Martin Griffin Preserve will commence at 10:00 a.m. and conclude by 4:00 p.m. There may be smoke in the air for approximately seven hours. Martin Griffin Preserve’s property includes frontage along Shoreline Highway 1. Travelers in the Stinson Beach and Bolinas area may see smoke in the air or experience slowing traffic.

This is a controlled burn conducted under a burn permit issued by the Marin County Fire Department.

Martin Griffin Preserve is located in West Marin at the edge of Bolinas Lagoon, on the east side of Shoreline Hwy 1. The anticipated time for the controlled burn is 9:00 AM through 4:00 PM.  The preserve will be closed for all but controlled-burn personnel.

If weather conditions permit, Audubon Canyon Ranch’s Fire Forward staff will be joined by more than 20 firefighters from partner organizations, county, and local fire agencies, to burn understory growth located midway up the Bourne Ridge of Martin Griffin Preserve.

Smoke will be visible from the Bolinas and Stinson Beach areas.

The ecosystem of the Bourne Ridge has changed rapidly in recent history, converting from a coastal prairie to a young and very dense Douglas fir forest with limited understory and tree diversity and a heavy fuel load. Controlled burns will promote greater diversity of native plants as well as a forest structure that supports lower intensity fires.