South Coast skies may get smoky from burn

Santa Barbara News-Press 21 January 2004

Smoke from a prescribed burn on the Cuyama Valley side of the Coast Ranges may smudge South Coast skies through the end of the week.

The conclusion of a 4,500-acre burn on the Sierra Madre Ridge, near the RockfrontRanch on Highway 166, is expected to start before 9 a.m. today and those managing the fire suspect the airbourne effects may be visible in Santa Barbara, reported fire information officer Joe Pasinato. There is no need to report the smoke, he added.

The first 2,500 acres of the area to be burned was torched starting a week ago Tuesday, he said, with cool temperatures and high relative humidity keeping those burns well under control.