What's the purpose of prescribed burns?

BABCOCK RANCH, Fla. —

Joanne Detwiler has lived in Babcock Ranch for a few months now. She and other residents are noticing the smoky and hazy conditions in the area due to the prescribed burns.

"You can smell it my nose has been continuously running all week. I've been coughing, I have to do my nibs before I take a walk, it's a little bit of a hardship," Detwiler told NBC2.

Having asthma doesn't help either.

"It's hard on me I have to time my walks between the smoke," she said.

A lot of you are wondering what's going on and why its creating so much smoke around our area. Patrick Mahoney with the Florida Forest Service says it's a common question.

"When we're doing the controlled burns, that's when people are wanting to know what's going on they think it's a wildfire and then we have to explain to them, it's not a wildfire," said Mahoney.

Mahoney says the Florida Forest System performs the burns to reduce the risk of seeing uncontrolled wildfires. Burning off all that dead and flammable plant material is a good way to proactively keep wildfires from spreading. Mahoney added that the smoke in the air is a side effect.

"I understand they can be bothersome to some people, but I also know smoke from a wildfire would be a lot worse," he added.

Controlled burns improve recreational opportunities for activities like hunting, bicycling and observing Florida's wildlife.

"It keeps the forest healthy the scrub, it allows to move around better and stay out of their predators line of sight and it's just makes the whole environment in that forest much healthier," Mahoney said.