Information

Fires do not stop at agency boundaries, nor do the agencies fighting them. The forest cooperates with other federal, state, and local partners in fire management activities. These relationships foster a safer and more efficient firefighting organization for the public and help us to communicate consistent fire prevention messages to adjacent landowners and the visiting public on National Forest System lands.

View the Daily Burn Status for woodcutting and contractors and scroll down for helpful wildfire and related links including Inciweb, AirNow, the National Interagency Fire Center and more.

Daily Status of Indices and Activity Levels  for Projects and Woodcutting

This webpage is updated daily at 6 p.m. with information from the Camino Interagency Emergency Command Center.

Actual Date:  June 16, 2025
Predicted Date: June 17, 2025

Daily Project Activity Level Phone Announcement - 530 295-5699

Descriptions of Indices and Levels

Burning Index (BI)

The Burning Index (BI) is an NFDRS index relating to the flame length at the head of the fire. BI is an estimate of the potential difficulty of fire control as a function of how fast and how hot a fire could burn. It has been scaled so that the BI value divided by 10 predicts the flame length at the head of a fire. For example, a BI of 75 would predict a flame length of 7.5 feet. BI is a function of the Spread Component and the Energy Release Component, and has moderate variability. It is sensitive to fuel models, and can trace seasonal trends reasonably well for models with heavy dead or live components. Because it uses wind and relative humidity, it is also very sensitive to weather observation errors.

Project Activity Level (PAL)

PAL is a scientifically-based “decision support process” to provide a fire precautionary system for industrial operations on National Forest lands in California. It’s goal is to balance the reduction in the ignition risk of large damaging wildfires with the accomplishment of resource (forest projects) management activities. PAL is a danger-rating climatology-based system. It considers the effects of weather conditions for the last 30-45 days and overall seasonality.

PAL Descriptions:

• A Minimum requirements.
• B Tank truck, trailer, or approved CAFS substitute shall be on or adjacent to the active landing.
• C 1. When Hot Saws or Masticators are operating, a tank truck, trailer, or approved CAFS substitute shall be within ¼ mile of these operations. Effective communication shall exist between the operator and the active landing. 2. Immediately after mechanical operations cease, fire patrol is required for two hours.
• D 1. Immediately after Hot Saw or Masticator operations cease, fire patrol is required for three hours. 2. No dead tree felling after 1:00PM, except recently dead trees. 3. No burning, blasting, welding, or cutting of metal after 1:00PM, except by special permit.
• Ev No Public Woodcutting. 1. The following activities may operate all day: Loading and hauling logs decked at approved landings. Loading and hauling chips stockpiled at approved landings. Servicing equipment at approved sites. Dust abatement, road maintenance, culvert installation within cleared area, chip sealing, paving, earth moving, or rock aggregate stock pile loading and installation. Chainsaw and log processing operations associated with loading logs or other forest products at approved landings. 2. Hot Saws or Masticators may operate until 1:00PM provided that a tractor or other equipment with a blade capable of constructing fire line is on or adjacent to the active landing or within ¼ mile of the operating equipment. This piece of equipment shall have effective communication with the Hot Saw or Masticator. 3. All other conventional mechanical operations are permitted until 1:00PM. 4. Some operations may be permitted after 1:00PM, on a case by case basis under the terms of a PAL Ev Variance Agreement. Activities for which a variance may be issued are: Rubber tire skidding, chipping on landings, helicopter yarding, fire salvage
• E No Public Woodcutting. The following activities may operate all day: 1. Loading and hauling logs decked at approved landings. 2. Loading and hauling chips stockpiled at approved landings. 3. Servicing equipment at approved sites. 4. Dust abatement, road maintenance, or loading stock piles and rock aggregate installation 5. Chainsaw operation associated with loading at approved landings. All other activities are prohibited.

For more information on PAL, visit the Pacific Southwest Region Fire and Aviation Management webpage.

The Project Activity Level is derived from a matrix using the Energy Release Component (ERC) and Ignition Component (IC) outputs from the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) processor within the Weather Information Management System (WIMS). WIMS receives weather observations from Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS) which are used to calculate ERC and IC. PAL uses ERC to better represent large fuel moistures and weather from the previous 30-45 days to reduce significant fluctuations in activity levels on a daily basis.

Adjective Rating (R)

A public information component of the NFDRS specific to the rating of fire danger. Adjective ratings are: low(L), moderate(M), high(H), very high(VH) and extreme(E).

Energy Release Component (ERC)

The Energy Release Component (ERC) is an NFDRS index (National Fire Danger Rating System) related to how hot a fire could burn. It is directly related to the 24-hour, potential worst case, total available energy (BTUs) per unit area (in square feet) within the flaming front at the head of a fire. The ERC can serve as a good characterization of a fire season as it tracks seasonal fire danger trends well. The ERC is a function of the fuel model and live and dead fuel moistures. Fuel loading, woody fuel moistures, and larger fuel moistures all have an influence on the ERC, while the lighter fuels have less influence and wind speed has none. ERC has low variability, and is the best fire danger component for indicating the effects of intermediate to long-term drying on fire behavior (if it is a significant factor) although it is not intended for use as a drought index.

Ignition Component (IC)

Related to the probability of a firebrand producing a fire that will require suppression action. It is mainly a function of the 1 hour time lag (fine fuels) fuel moisture content and the temperature of the receptive fine fuels. IC has no units. A percentage of probability from 1-100.