Fires meant to cut down on excess fuel and reduce the risk of wildfire will be set under controlled conditions by the U.S. Forest Service as soon as today, with smoke plumes possibly visible in Orange County in coming days.

The controlled fires, called “prescribed burns,” were to begin Wednesday in the Trabuco District of the Cleveland National Forest, east of Orange County, said district ranger Keith Fletcher.

While fires planned for Wednesday would be on ridges above Corona, and unlikely to be seen from Orange County, more fires could be set as early as next week close to the Main Divide Road where it meets Ortega Highway, Fletcher said.

“There will be places on the North Main where it will definitely be visible from Orange County — actual flames,” Fletcher said.

In some cases, piles of debris will be burned, while in others, areas where vegetation has built up.

Such controlled fires help create fuel breaks to slow or halt wildfires.

The Trabuco Ranger District will burn 300-500 acres in the North Main Divide area, and about 220 acres on the south Main Divide.

The fires will be set in December and January, the timing dependent on weather conditions.

“A lot of it is scheduled the day before, based on what the predictions are for wind, things like that,” Fletcher said.

(Register photo of controlled fire in Cleveland Forest in 2005 by Chas Metivier.)

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