50 firefighters and "fire-lighters" from throughout the US and Canada are joining forces in SantaBarbara County to hold a prescribed fire training exchange.
The prescribed burn will take place on Thursday, Nov. 17, at UCSB Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley as part of a week-long training event.
Along with the multiple prescribed burns, the program also includes lectures and seminars on the local fire ecology of plant and animal species, tribal burning and burn planning.
Various groups will participate in this prescribed fire training exchange, including employees of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, The Nature Conservancy, and the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Prescribed fire training exchanges first came to California in 2013.
These training exchanges have made a positive cultural shift concerning prescribed fire within the regional fire services and the general public.
Officials refer to these planned burns as "good" fires.
