SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) — In North Bay, fire season is far from over. CAL FIRE crews conducted a large controlled burn inside Trione-Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa on Monday. It’s a way to clear dry brush and grass before fall and winter rains, but the elements have given firefighters a boost.

Nearly 100 CAL FIRE crews were on the ground starting fires inside Trione-Annadel State Park.

Controlled or prescribed burning is one way to remove years of dry brush that could fuel a future wildfire on Bennett Ridge in Santa Rosa that burned in 2017.

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“That was part of the Nuns Fire, which decimated the subdivision to the west. So this was a project with California State Parks and CAL FIRE to create a buffer between that neighborhood and that future Nuns Fire. forest,” said CAL FIRE Chief Ben Nicholls. .

The plan is to burn up to 70 acres inside this massive state park.

“Ultimately, these places are fire-dependent ecosystems, so bringing fire back is part of our obligation,” said Naftali Moed of California State Parks.

But the elements put a damper on things. The prescribed burn started strong but had to be stopped early because the grasses were too wet from overnight rains. The fires lit quickly went out.

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“Unfortunately, this fall burn window is very unstable, so we’ve gone from offshore winds a few weeks ago to today we can’t get things burning like we need to,” Nicholls said.

Rain showers continued into the afternoon. Homeowners praised firefighters for their efforts.

“For prescribed burning, if it keeps everyone safe, it seems like a good thing,” Hilary Rragami said.

Firefighters say they will be back Tuesday to try burning again.