Opinion: Knowing when burn conditions are ideal

To the community,

A couple things to note here, and I want to make sure I address them since operations in Angora will be ongoing.

First, we completely understand that people get nervous when they see us conducting prescribed fire operations when it’s windy. When we get the right mix of conditions, like last week, wind is good for two reasons: it helps to disperse smoke and it also helps the piles burn more completely. We also had significant precipitation on the way, which we knew would help extinguish the piles.

Besides getting rid of the piles, another goal of the prescribed fire operations in the Angora area is to reduce the brush that has regrown since the fire and allow native seedlings to grow. Conditions that allow fire to move between piles within the unit boundaries help to accomplish that.

Finally, before we begin prescribed fire operations, our protocols require us to make sure that sufficient resources are available to address contingencies. Unlike when a wildfire starts in windy conditions, our crews are already in place and monitoring the operation during a prescribed fire, rather than responding after the fact.

Cheva Heck, USFS LTBMU spokeswoman