Crews set fire to roughly 260 acres of grassland, coastal scrub and oak woodland on Angel Island Tuesday, and wind shifts pushed the smoke inland toward Richmond and West Contra Costa County. Officials warned the smoke could linger, and city officials sent emergency Nixle alerts asking residents not to call 911 over the smell or sight of smoke.
The burn, coordinated by Cal Fire, California State Parks and the Marin County Fire Department, is a broad-scale broadcast burn, according to Berkeleyside. State Parks had conducted smaller pile burns on Angel Island in recent years, including in April 2023, but Tuesday's operation focused on vegetation management, fuel reduction and habitat benefits. As The Oaklandside reported, the prescribed fire is intended to help native plants and other species that depend on periodic low-intensity fire, while also eliminating invasive brush and cutting down the fuel load that has built up on the roughly one-square-mile island in the bay off Tiburon.
Wind Shift Catches Richmond and Berkeley Off Guard
Smoke impacts in Richmond and the surrounding West Contra Costa County area exceeded initial forecasts once the wind turned, according to the Grandview Independent. The plume brought harmful particulate matter to neighborhoods that hadn't expected to bear the brunt of the burn. Across the bay in Berkeley, unofficial PurpleAir sensors recorded Air Quality Index readings exceeding 150, a level considered unhealthy for the general public.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District responded by issuing a regional Spare the Air alert for Wednesday, urging residents across the region to cut back on activities that add to air pollution while the smoke lingered. Following the first day of burning, partner agencies canceled the burn operations planned for Wednesday because of air-quality concerns, with the Air District involved, according to California State Parks. Further burning depends on weather and air conditions.
A Firefighting Operation Built for an Island
Getting fire crews and equipment onto Angel Island is its own logistical puzzle, and Tuesday's deployment showed the scale involved. The multi-agency operation put 110 personnel on the island, backed by eight fire engines, three hand crews, a water tender and water holding tanks, per the Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit's account carried by Berkeleyside. The operation involved crews and equipment on the island before burning began.
Crews worked in grasslands and coastal scrub to reduce invasive plants and accumulated fuel, according to the Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit. California increasingly relies on prescribed fires like this one to restore forest health and reduce the brush that can otherwise fuel much bigger, more destructive conflagrations, The Oaklandside noted. The Angel Island project is intended to manage vegetation and reduce wildfire risk.
Trails Closed, Island Still Open to Visitors
Public safety closures tied to the burn restricted access to the summit of Mount Livermore and shut down portions of the Ida Trail, Sunset Trail, and the island's perimeter and fire roads, according to SFist. Some trails will remain closed while the burn continues, but Angel Island State Park is staying open to visitors overall throughout the operation.
The project is also notable as an early use of California's Proposition 4 climate bond funding on state park land. SFist identified the project as drawing on the 2024 Climate Bond. Hoodline previously covered a smaller burn on the island in 2024, when the SF Fire Department issued similar reassurances to Bay Area residents watching smoke rise from the island.
