DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Authorities set fire to a wooded area in Deerfield Beach in order to protect the environment.
Officials with Broward County Parks and Recreation and the Florida Forest Service burned 4.3 acres in an effort to increase biodiversity and improve wildlife habitat.
“This area is pyrogenic, meaning it likes to burn, so we do these types of burns when the weather is the right conditions so we can control it and get what we we need out of the fire,” Linda Briggs Thompson, the environmental program manager with Broward County Parks and Recreation, said.
The neighborhoods surrounding the Military Trail Natural Area were all notified so they knew the fire was happening. First responders were also made aware in case someone called 911.
Controlled burns can make areas less likely to experience wildfires and keep the surrounding areas safer.
“When a wildfire occurs, we’re not here on site,” Briggs Thompson said. “We’re not ready to maintain and contain it.”
Many of us aren’t wired to think of fire as a good or healthy thing, but Briggs Thompson explained why it is in this case.
“A lot of these areas of scrubby flatwoods, they are adapted to fire. They have had fire for thousands of years without us being here,” she said. “Also, there are many plants and animals that surprisingly need fire. They might need fire to regenerate their seeds or bring in new food.”
Local 10 Weather Authority meteorologist Brandon Orr weighed in on the necessity of controlled or prescribed burns and their impact in South Florida.
“Especially this week we have seen that daily chance of showers and thunderstorms each and every afternoon, so we’re getting into our lightning season and these cloud-to-ground lightning strikes that happen, even away from the rainfall and thunderstorms, can start up a wildfire like that,” he said. “Before you know it it’s out of control, but we have noticed (in) these areas where we’ve seen prescribed burns, wildfires are not growing as intense.”
Prescribed burns happen at sites like the Military Trail Natural Area every two years or so. It’s one of about a dozen places in Broward County where they happen.
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