A prescribed burn at the Cal Poly's Escuela Ranch is benefiting not only the land but also Cal Poly students.

“It's collaboration at its best. That's what prescribed fire is. It's finding actual objectives and benefits," CAL FIRE SLO Battalion Chief Luke Bourgault explained. He was one of the proctors helping out students out in the field conducting the burn.

For the past two years, Dr. Ashley Grupenhoff with the Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences Department, has been working on approvals, permitting and collaboration to be able to hold the first ever prescribed burn on campus.

“It's amazing experiences to get stressed out before, be out sweating your butt off and actually seeing what fire does on the landscape,” Grupenhoff joked.

For some students, like CJ MacLaughlin, it's

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