[CPEO-MEF] Agencies OK'd Fort Ord burn

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California
THE MONTEREY COUNTY HERALD
Agencies OK'd Fort Ord burn
By Sukhjit Purewal, spurewal@montereyherald.com
Posted on Thu, Oct. 30, 2003

Amid the second-guessing that has raged since the smoky Fort Ord fire
was set Friday, one thing has become clear: None of the agencies
consulted on the burn advised the Army against proceeding because of
weather conditions.

Although the fire went wrong on two fronts, sending voluminous smoke
across the Peninsula and jumping past its boundaries, a meteorologist
for the fire contractor as well as federal and state officials say the
fire was proceeding well for the two hours it remained under control.

Of all the agencies involved in monitoring the fire, only the Monterey
Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District objects to that assessment. A
meteorologist for the district says conditions were not right in the
early hours of the fire.

Even though smoke was causing complaints almost from the fire's start at
9:06 a.m., the Fort Ord project manager for the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency says the problem didn't really develop until the
flames jumped its boundaries about two hours later. A fire that was
supposed to clear brush from nearly 500 acres ended up blackening almost
1,500 acres.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/7139934.htm

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