Local News in Brief : Controlled Burn in Forest

U.S. Forest Service officials plan to burn native vegetation on a 600-acre area of the Angeles National Forest today, a spokesman said. The “prescribed burn” is expected to last much of today and Thursday.

The fire in the Saucer-Nino section of the forest--north of Altadena and east of the Angeles Crest Highway--will be visible from La Canada, La Crescenta, Altadena, Glendale and much of Los Angeles if the air quality is good, Forest Service spokesman Mike Milosch said.

Set by torches suspended from helicopters, the burn is designed to reduce the amount of dead chaparral, which poses the danger of a large forest fire in the dry season, Milosch said. Clearing the chaparral also facilitates new plant growth and the migration of animals, he said.