Tract 17 Escaped Prescribed Fire 2014

On September 17, 2014, a prescribed burn implemented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) escaped control lines and was declared a wildfire. The moderate-complexity prescribed fire was conducted on a 60-acre grassland unit of the refuge to reduce hazardous fuel loadings and provide quality browse for ducks, geese, and other waterfowl. During blacklining operations, fire crept undetected across a wetline at the test fire location. The escaped fire grew quickly and exceeded the capabilities of on-site resources, eventually burning a total of 410 acres before being controlled by on-site and contingency resources.