BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - In response to the increasing high fire danger, the Bureau of Land Management Bakersfield Field Office has announced fire restrictions for federal and state-protected lands within several Central California counties effective immediately.
These restrictions include all BLM public lands in Tulare, Fresno, Kings, Kern, Madera, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties. Fire restrictions affect all BLM recreational areas including Three Rivers, San Joaquin River Gorge, Lake Isabella, Chimney Peak, Kennedy Meadows and the Carrizo Plain National Monument.
Portable stoves with gas, jellied petroleum or pressured liquid fuel are authorized with a valid California campfire permit, but the public is asked to be extremely careful with their use and carry a shovel and water at all times.
Other restrictions include:
• No tools powered by internal combustion engines off established roads or trails.
• No smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, or at a designated developed recreation site, or other designated areas.
• No motorized vehicles off established roads or trails.
• No shooting using incendiary, tracer, steel core or armor piercing ammunition.
• No fireworks, including "safe and sane" fireworks.
• No welding or operating acetylene or other torch with open flame, except by special permit.
• No use of explosives, except by special permit.
The BLM advises homeowners to "Take Responsibility" and keep 100 feet of clean, open space around their homes to provide defensible space and improve the chance that their homes and families can be saved in an uncontrolled wildfire.
For more information, contact Ruth Ellison (661) 391- 6169.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
