Fighting Fire With Fire: Sacramento's Controlled Burn Trains Crews and Heals the Land

There’s a counterintuitive lesson fire agencies have learned over decades of managing wildfire danger: sometimes the best way to prevent catastrophic burns is to light one yourself. On Tuesday morning, Sacramento Metro Fire crews put that principle into practice at Gene Andal Park off Florin Road, torching a 250-acre field in what amounted to a real-world laboratory for fighting fire and restoring an ecosystem in crisis.

This wasn’t reckless. The controlled burn served dual purposes that showcase why these exercises have become essential to California’s fire strategy. For the firefighters themselves, Battalion Chief Chris Vestal explained, there’s simply no substitute for hands-on training:“We need to practice in the real world environment. And there’s nothing like that for wildfires except for real live wildfire itself.”Crews drilled cutting firebreaks, deploying hose lines from engines, and using controlled counter-fire to dictate the direction and speed of the flames—skills that could mean the difference between life and death in an actual emergency.

But the burn did more than sharpen axes and hose skills. Zachary Skalak, a natural resources specialist at the Sacramento County Regional Parks Department, noted that the fire consumed invasive seeds and non-native grasses that have been choking out the landscape’s natural flora and harming vernal pools. Native species, which evolved with fire and are more resilient to it, now have a fighting chance to grow back stronger. By removing the water-hogging invaders, crews were essentially resetting the field to its healthier state—one more fire-adapted and better equipped to withstand future blazes.

Even the park’s regular visitors saw the upside. Jeff Montrose, president of the Sacramento Air Modelers club, called it fantastic: burned land means their model aircraft won’t get lost in tall grass, and the cleared field reduces fire risk for the hobby itself. It’s a small but telling reminder that these burns benefit the entire community, not just land managers.

This was Sacramento Metro Fire’s fourth and largest wildland training burn of the season. Crews from across the region participated—and that matters. When unfamiliar teams work together in controlled conditions, they build muscle memory and trust that pays dividends when real wildfires force emergency collaboration. Vestal summed up the stakes plainly:“We’re reducing that threat, not eliminating it, but we’re reducing that impact that those fires could have if one were to start.”

In a region increasingly shaped by fire, learning to wield it responsibly is survival.