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The district took advantage of a cool, cloudy Nov. 14 and conducted a training session at Painted Rock, along Moraga Road near Rheem Boulevard, and completed an 8-acre controlled burn on the east side of the town's de facto monument. In June, MOFD conducted the district's first ever controlled burn of 4 acres on the same side of Painted Rock.
The controlled burn near the San Pablo Reservoir was completed the next day in a remote area northwest of Briones Dam. The district said the project was intended to reduce heavy fuels in the area and promote regeneration of native oaks.
MOFD recently completed its North Orinda Shaded Fuel Break project, a $4 million state-funded effort to reduce the risk of wildfires along a ridge from Tilden Park to Acalanes High School. The fuel break is one of six statewide projects completed out of 35 approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom in March.
Fire district spokesman Dennis Rein said that residents should prepare for more prescribed fire projects as they are a key element in controlling unruly vegetation and preventing wildfires. "Better that residents tolerate a little bit of smoke from a low-intensity prescribed fire now than a lot of smoke from a wildfire later," Rein said.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA