According to the Arkansas Forestry Division, prescribed burns in Washington and Johnson counties mixed with winds are causing many to see and smell smoke in Northwest Arkansas.
AFD's website says a prescribed burn in Washington County began at 10:30 a.m. about 7 miles west of Fayetteville that burned 1,361 acres.
In Johnson County, approximately 1,900 acres were burned about 13 miles northeast of Ozark.
Both burns, according to AFD, are scheduled to end around midnight on March 8.
The AFD chooses days when rain is in the forecast to help mitigate risk, with vegetation still fairly wet it's easier to control the blaze.
Light east winds help crews plan the direction of the burn. It's not too windy to bring a fire out of control.
Prescribed fire is a planned fire; it is also sometimes called a “controlled burn” or “prescribed burn."
According to the National Parks Service, controlled burns are an important tool used to manage fire. "A scientific prescription for each fire, prepared in advance, describes its objectives, fuels, size, the precise environmental conditions under which it will burn, and conditions under which it may be suppressed."
The fire may be designed to create a mosaic of diverse habitats for plants and animals, to help endangered species recover, or to reduce fuels and thereby prevent a destructive fire, the NPS says.
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