What's the purpose of prescribed burns?
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Updated: 9:04 PM EST Jan 15, 2025
HAPPENED JUST A FEW HOURS AGO. BACK TO YOU. >> ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU, ROB. SO WE KNOW WHAT'S CAUSING ALL THE SMOKE. THE BIGGER QUESTION IS WHY DO WE NEED TO SET ALL THESE FIRES IN THE FIRST PLACE? TONIGHT, ABC SEVEN'S MOHAMMED AL TO CALI IS TAKING OUR QUESTIONS TO THE EXPERTS TO GET YOU ANSWERS. >> THIS IS A SIGHT WE'VE SEEN ALL DAY HERE AT BABCOCK RANCH, VISIBLE SMOKE IN THE AIR BECAUSE OF CONTROLLED BURNS. THE SMOKE A SMALL RIGHT NOW, BUT ABOUT 5 MILES AWAY, IT LOOKS A LOT DIFFERENT. NEIGHBORS SAY BECAUSE OF THIS, THEY'RE HAVING TROUBLE ENJOYING THE OUTDOORS. IT'S FRUSTRATING. YOU KNOW, I THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS WE DIDN'T ANTICIPATE WHEN WE MOVED HERE. THE WIND, WILLARD HAD LIVED IN BABCOCK RANCH FOR A FEW MONTHS NOW. SHE AND OTHER RESIDENTS HERE 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, YOU KNOW, HAVE TO DO MY NABS BEFORE. TAKE A WALK. IT'S IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A HARDSHIP HAVING ASTHMA DOESN'T HELP EITHER. IT'S ME. I HAVE TO TIE MY WALKS BETWEEN THE SMOKE BLOOM'S. A LOT OF YOU ARE WONDERING WHAT'S GOING ON AND WHY THAT CREATING SO MUCH SMOKE AROUND OUR AREA. PATRICK MAHONEY WITH THE FLORIDA FOREST SERVICE SAYS IT'S A COMMON QUESTION WHEN WE'RE DOING. >> DURING THE CONTROLLED BURNS, THAT'S WHEN YOU KNOW, PEOPLE OR WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. THEY THINK IT'S WILDFIRE. AND THEN WE HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO HIM. >> IT'S NOT A WILDFIRES FORCE SYSTEM PERFORMED THE BIRTH TO REDUCE THE RISK OF SEEING UNCONTROLLED WILDFIRES. MAHONEY SAYS THE 4 SYSTEM PERFORMED THE BURNS TO REDUCE THE RISK OF SEEING UNCONTROLLED WILDFIRES BURNING OFF ALL THAT DEBT. INFLATABLE PLANT MATERIAL IS A GOOD WAY TO PROACTIVELY KEEP WILDFIRES FROM SPREADING. OF COURSE, MAHONEY SAYS THE SMOKE IN THE AIR IS A SIDE EFFECT. >> I UNDERSTAND CAN BE BOTHERSOME TO SOME PEOPLE. BUT I ALSO KNOW SMOKE FROM A WILDFIRE. BE A LOT WORSE. >> THERE IS A SECOND PRESCRIBED BURN. HAPPENING NOW IN COLLIER COUNTY, THE SOUTH OF 82. I'M REPORTING IN BABCOCK RANCH, MOM OF THE CALL. WE ABC 7. >> LET'S GET YOU MORE OF FLORIDA FOREST SERVICE OVERSEAS. ONE OF THE MOST ACTIVE PRESCRIBED FIRE PROGRAMS IN THE COUNTRY IN AN AVERAGE YEAR. THEY WILL ISSUE APPROXIMATELY 88,000 AUTHORIZATIONS ALLOWING LANDOWNERS AND AGENCIES TO PRESCRIBE BURN. MORE THAN 2.1 MILLION ACRES. LOOK AT THOSE NUMBERS PLANNING FOR A PRESCRIBED BURN STARTS MONTHS IN ADVANCE. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, WHEN FWC IDENTIFIES AREAS THAT WILL BENEFIT FROM A PRESCRIBED FIRE. AND A BIG PART OF IT IS TO IMPROVE AND MAINTAIN HABITATS FOR DEER QUAIL TURKEY AND MANY OTHER WILDLIFE SPECIES. SOME OF FLORIDA'S ANIMALS CANNOT THRIVE WITHOUT FIRE. LIKE THE GOPHER TORTOISE, FLORIDA SCRUB JAY AND INDIGO SNAKE. >> A BROWN KIA ASSISTS AND I'M ON OXYGEN AT NIGHT. SO I HAVE ISSUES AND I ALSO HAVE ASTHMA. AND SO IT'S IT'S ME. I HAVE TO TIE MY WALKS BETWEEN THE SMOKE LOOMS. >> AND THAT'S PRETTY SMART BECAUSE ALL THAT SMOKE CAN BE A RISK TO YOUR HEALTH, WHETHER IT'S FROM A WILDFIRE OR PRESCRIBED BURN CELL. WE ARE ASKING A LONG EXPERT FROM LEE HEALTH TO GET YOU MORE ON WHAT WARNING SIGNS YOU SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR. IF YOU'RE SENSITIVE. >> IF YOU'RE HAVING WORSENING OF YOUR BREATHING, SHORTNESS OF BREATH, YOUR OXYGEN LEVELS, THEY'RE GOING LOWER. THAT'S WHEN YOU SHOULD SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION AND YOU SHOULD BE COGNIZANT OF ALL THAT YOUR SYMPTOMS. >> YOU CAN'T BE TOO CAREFUL. HE ALSO SAYS PEOPLE WITH UNDERLYING PULMONARY CONDITIONS LIKE COPD, ASTHMA, EVEN CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THOSE SYMPTOMS AND STAY INDOORS AND KEEP THE WINDOWS CLOSED. IF YOU CAN EVEN CONTACT LOCAL LAND MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT AGENCIES. IF YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS, CAN ALSO SEE ALL THE PRESCRIBED BURNS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN OUR COUNTIES. WE'VE GOT AN INTERACTIVE MAP FOR THE ENTIRE
What's the purpose of prescribed burns?
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Updated: 9:04 PM EST Jan 15, 2025
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 ABC7. 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.
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 ABC7.
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.
