Marin County Fire crews carried out the second prescribed burn on county open space this summer on Tuesday, July 28, sending smoke across parts of Marin County from a planned burn near Martin Griffin Preserve in West Marin.
Smoke from the burn, managed by the Marin County Fire Department, was visible in areas including San Rafael, Patch Mill Valley reported.
The burn began at 8 a.m. Fire officials asked residents not to call 911 for updates about the smoke.
Smoke from the burn may be visible to residents in the surrounding area, including San Rafael, according to the report. The preserve is a 1,000-acre wildlife sanctuary at 4900 Shoreline Highway 1 near Stinson Beach, managed by All Hands Ecology and protected from development since 1962.
What residents should do
The City of San Rafael's prescribed fire guidance tells residents who see or smell smoke from a planned burn to:
- Keep windows and doors closed when possible
- Limit outdoor activities and wear an N95 mask if smoke persists
- Drive carefully, as visibility may be reduced
- Sign up for AlertMarin at emergency.marincounty.gov and select the "prescribed burns" alert group
- Not call 911 unless fire is visible outside the planned burn area
Part of a broader program
Tuesday's burn is the second prescribed fire on Marin County open space this summer. On June 23, Marin County Fire and Marin County Parks completed an 18-acre grassland burn at Roy's Redwoods Preserve, which Marin County Parks called the first prescribed burn in county open space in over a decade.
Closer to home, the San Rafael Fire Department conducted a prescribed pile burn on San Rafael Hill in April 2026, disposing of 80 piles of vegetation equal to about 20 truckloads of debris. That project was funded by Measure C.
The Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority approved a $24.1 million budget in May for countywide fire prevention programs, including fuel reduction projects in the San Rafael zone. Marin's coastal grasslands historically burned every one to three years before cultural burning was outlawed in the mid-1800s, according to the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority. A century of fire suppression has allowed vegetation to build up, increasing wildfire risk.
No specific acreage or duration for Tuesday's burn has been released. According to the city's prescribed fire guidance, fire personnel patrol burn sites for days or weeks afterward to confirm the fire remains fully contained.
