Fire Chiefs Raise Air Curtain Burner Concerns in San Joaquin County
Published Friday, October 2, 2026
The San Joaquin County Fire Chiefs Association has formally asked the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District board to consider new regulations for agricultural air curtain burners. The chiefs are concerned that the equipment and smoke can look like a structure fire from a distance. As a result, crews are sometimes dispatched to burns that turn out to be permitted, tying up resources that may be needed for a real emergency.
The chiefs stress that their concern is not with legitimate agricultural operations. Their recommendations include set operating hours, lighted signage, advance notification to dispatch, a centralized burn database, standardized equipment markings and expanded public education.
A simpler fix may already be within reach. Only a handful of companies in the county operate air curtain burners. If they gave the local fire authority the time and location of each burn 24 hours in advance, dispatchers could tell a permitted burn from an emergency. That step would address most of the chiefs' concerns without new regulations.
Members are encouraged to contact their local fire chief before any air curtain burn, share the date, time and location, and ask burn contractors to do the same.
Staff contact: Daniella Legostaev, dlegostaev@cfbf.com.
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