Riverside County Fire Department crews next week will be eliminating acreage around the west end of Lake Mathews as part of a controlled burn that officials said will be visible to motorists and area residents, who were asked not to be alarmed by the smoke.
Operations are scheduled both Tuesday and Wednesday and will begin both days shortly after 6 a.m. and continue into the early afternoon hours.
Fire administrators said the exercise will additionally provide a training opportunity for hand crews, noting that it further “accomplishes the goal of rehabilitating the burrowing owl and Stephens’ kangaroo rat habitat through eradication of invasive, non-native grasses and weed species.”
Prescribed burns happened in the same general area several times this past summer in partnership with the county Regional Park & Open Space District and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
Officials emphasized smoke columns will be visible from the Riverside (91) Freeway, Interstates 15 and 215 and other corridors, as well as in surrounding communities, including Corona and Riverside.
Fires will only be lit when conditions are favorable, and any change in the weather, including high winds and plummeting relative humidity, would result in an immediate halt to the operation, according to the fire department.
The California Highway Patrol typically receives multiple calls when prescribed burns are underway.
Anyone with questions or concerns was advised to contact the fire department’s public affairs bureau at 951-940-6985.