Residents in San Luis Obispo might have noticed more smoke in the air Tuesday morning. It was the first cultural burn with a local indigenous tribe in more than 100 years.
The yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash Tribe, with support from Cal Fire, the SLO County Fire Department and SLO City Fire, burned a hillside at the Johnson Ranch Open Space. The controlled burn was about 15 acres wide.
Becca Lucas is a member of the tribe and helped organize the burn. She said the practice has been a part of indigenous culture for more than 10 thousand years.
“We have elders who didn't think they would see fire come back in their lifetime and they got to see it today, and that first light was really, really powerful,” Lucas said.
According to Lucas, cultural burns reduce wildfire risk, revitalize plant life and maintain native ecosystems.
“We've got a lot of potential fuels around us that get ready to be the potential for wildfire come summer,” Lucas said.
The cultural burn was also a training session for firefighters to learn how to better support them. The event is meant to be the first of many cultural burns conducted by the agencies and the tribe.