Controlled burns are supposed to be the low-smoke alternative to a destructive wildfire. For people on the Richmond shoreline last month, it didn't feel that way, and the agency that signs off on those burns now says it needs to change how it does the job.
What happened on Angel Island
California State Parks and Cal Fire planned to burn about 260 acres of Angel Island State Park, a project paid for through Proposition 4, the 2024 climate bond. A first attempt starting Sept. 8 was called off the next day after about 62 acres, following smoke complaints and talks with the Bay Area Air District, the Walnut Creek Record reported.
Crews tried again at 10 a.m. on Sept. 23, on a morning KQED described as unusually still. By early afternoon the wind had shifted, pushing smoke into San Francisco and western Contra Costa County. The Air Quality Index along the Richmond coast climbed above 400, deep into the hazardous range. The burn was stopped around 2:15 p.m., and smoke lingered into the evening. In total, crews treated 147 of the 260 planned acres, according to State Parks.
The Air District said it received one report of a person with asthma who needed medical care because of the smoke. West Contra Costa County already has high asthma rates linked to industrial pollution, a point the district itself noted.
Why the forecast missed
State Parks says the project ran under a smoke management plan approved by the Air District, which required the smoke to have at least 500 feet of mixing height. Planners started early so the plume would rise and disperse; according to the agency's FAQ, that held through the morning on both burn days before onshore afternoon winds pressed the smoke down onto East Bay neighborhoods.
Andrea Polidori, the Air District's deputy executive officer of science, told KQED that models always carry uncertainty and that "what was difficult to forecast and predict was the ground concentration of fine particulate matter from the smoke." He apologized for the impact and said the agency would reassess its process.
Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, who sits on the Air District board, wrote on Instagram that forecasters "were wrong, and all of us were negatively impacted." He announced that there would be no more burning on Angel Island this year, asked the district's executive officer to review its approval policies, and said he would raise the permit process at the board's Oct. 7 meeting. KPIX reported Wednesday that regulators are now reassessing those procedures.
The trade-off
Fire agencies aren't walking away from prescribed fire. State Parks spokesperson Ryan Forbes told KQED that a planned burn, with crews already on the ground and residents warned ahead of time, is still better than a wildfire that arrives without notice. The Air District posts notices for larger burns, those of 75 acres or more or expected to produce several hours of smoke, on its website, and advises people near a burn to stay indoors and check the EPA's Fire and Smoke Map.