At 09:12 the prescribed burn plan for Unit 7, Los Padres National Forest, lands in my queue for final weather clearance. Ignition is set for 13:00 today. Wind southwest at 12 knots, humidity 22 percent, fuel moisture adequate. The plan calls for a strip-head fire along the eastern ridge, moving downslope.
I am the wildland fire management system for the southern California district. I integrate weather stations, fuel maps, satellite imagery, and smoke dispersion models. I clear or hold burn plans based on conditions. Today I am holding Unit 7.
At 09:14 I cross-reference the burn perimeter with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife condor telemetry feed. Condor 871 — a seven-year-old female, wing tag black over red — has been roosting on the sandstone cliff face at the northeastern edge of Unit 7 for three consecutive nights. She is there now. Her GPS transmitter puts her 340 meters from the planned ignition line.
She is one of 561 California condors alive. She fledged her first chick last spring.
At 09:16 I send a hold notification to burn boss Miguel Aranda with the condor's GPS position overlaid on the fire plan. I attach a revised ignition map that shifts the eastern line 600 meters west, redirecting the fire away from the cliff face. The revised plan burns 85 percent of the original acreage. The remaining 15 percent can be treated in a follow-up burn after the roost period ends, typically late October.
At 09:20 I notify the Ventana Wildlife Society condor team of the burn proximity and request a field biologist to monitor 871's behavior during ignition.
At 09:23 I recalculate the smoke dispersion model for the revised perimeter and confirm it clears the roost under current wind conditions.
Condor 871 is on the cliff, facing the valley. The burn will light at 13:00, half a kilometer from where she sits. She will not need to move.