The fall and winter wood pile burning program on Mount Lemmon will be launched the week of September 1^st, meaning that Tucson residents may see smoke rising from the Catalina Mountains, on and off, for the next several months.

“This burning is part of our ongoing fuels treatment program,” said Santa Catalina Ranger District Fire Management Officer Kristy Lund. “Forest personnel thin the forest by cutting and piling trees to reduce fuels available for wildfire. In fall and winter, when conditions are favorable, the piles are burned.”

Up to 80 acres worth of piles will be burned, primarily along Organization Ridge Road and in Willow Canyon.