Prescribed burns are in the forecast

It’s wet in some parts of the area today, but it’s not today’s wet weather that has the Forest Service worried about wildfires.

It’s the moisture that we saw several months ago.

The wet spring and early summer allowed the grasses to grow very tall, but now that the seasons are changing those same grasses are dying and turning brown.

That means that by next spring and summer all of that dead vegetation could become tinder if a wildfire breaks out.

The way that the Forest Service is trying to keep big fires from happening is by using prescribed burns.

They say that figuring out when and what part of the forest to set alight is a complex process.

Dawn Sanchez of the Forest Service said, “We do plan these years in advance. We have to plan for every scenario and we have each unit broken up into smaller units which we can break down and burn easier into smaller sections.”

The Forest Service says that there will be more signs warning drivers of prescribed burns in the Pike National Forest over the next couple of weeks.

They said they’re planning to set more fires this weekend, but that’s only if the weather cooperates.