2 prescribed burns planned Wednesday morning. Here’s what to expect
A prescribed burn has been scheduled for Wednesday near Grand Mound in south Thurston County, according to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, and JBLM is conducting a burn on its property at the same time.
The Grand Mount burn will occur at about 10 a.m. in the Scatter Creek Wildlife Area, west of Interstate 5. WDFW announced the burn after aborting plans to start the burn on Tuesday due to gusty winds, according to their news release.
There will be two small burns at the site, 15 and 3 acres in size, that will last about 1-3 hours in total, the release says. WDFW warns the public that smoke will rise from the burn area and likely move northeast with the wind.
WDFW planned the burn with Ecostudies Institute to “control invasive shrubs and restore prairie habitat for rare and species and reduce fuels,” the release says. The burns will be conducted by qualified firefighters, per the release.
Controlled burns are often done in the summer months when fuels have cured and dried in western Washington, according to the release. WDFW says it avoids prescribing burns during extreme weather conditions.
The public can report nuisance smoke during the WDFW burn operation by calling 360-259-3900. After the burn is complete, the public can call 360-701-5145.
Meanwhile, Joint Base Lewis-McChord announced another prescribed burn to take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday in neighboring Pierce County.
This burn will be conducted in Training Area 14 and 15, which is about one-mile due south of the intersection of Rice Kandle Road and 8th Avenue South, east of State Route 507 and west of State Route 7, according to a JBLM news release.
JBLM says they prescribe burns to remove potential fuel sources and improve training lands. They also warned that burn times may change due to various circumstances.
This story was originally published August 28, 2024 at 9:43 AM.
