While it was a mostly sunny day across the Gulf Coast Monday, that was not the case in an area of northwest Jackson County.
Technicians from the U.S. Forest Service performed a prescribed burn of some 2,100 acres, starting early Monday morning and working well into the night. Smoke blanketed much of the area, particularly in the afternoon when the bulk of the acreage was lit aflame by a helicopter dropping ping pong-sized balls filled with potassium permanganate.
“We began monitoring the weather conditions about 6:30 a.m.,” said Eddie Baggett, a Prescribed Fires and Fuels Technician with the U.S. Forest Service. “By 10:30, we started lighting the perimeter.”
Baggett said the 2,100 acre burn was “about average” for the Forest Service, but much larger than the typical 500-acre burns performed at the Sandhill Crane Refuge in Gautier.
“It’s what we call hazardous fuel reduction,” Baggett said. “In layman’s terms, it’s to burn off leaves, grass and bushes to reduce the risk of a brush fire.”
From GulfLive.com: https://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/01/us_forest_service_conducts_big.html