Fort Worth performs prescribed fire at Nature Center. What does that mean?
If residents saw smoke around the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge near Lake Worth on Thursday, Feb. 5, it was on purpose.
The Fort Worth Parks and Recreation Department performed a prescribed fire at the location from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday. The center is located in northwest Fort Worth at 9601 Fossil Ridge Road.
As for why the fire took place Thursday, the department said weather conditions were optimal and the threat of wildfire in the area was not a risk.
What is a prescribed fire? Here’s what to know.
Why prescribed fires exist
Fort Worth’s parks department uses prescribed fires, or controlled burns, as a “crucial land management technique for its natural areas.”
As the name suggests, a prescribed fire is when a predetermined area is purposely burned under certain pre-planned conditions. There are a few requirements that must be met before the burn begins, including air temperatures, relative humidity, fuel moisture and wind speed/direction.
The department describes the burn like how a doctor prescribes medicine, the prescribed fire is to improve the health of a natural area. In addition to parks, prescribed fires are conducted by a mix of staff from the Fort Worth Fire Department and surrounding departments and agencies.
Furthermore, the parks department shared the following benefits of a prescribed fire:
- Reduces vegetation build-up: Fire consumes accumulated dead plant material, which reduces fuel loads and helps prevent severe wildfires.
- Returns nutrients to the soil: Burning releases nutrients from vegetation back into the soil, enriching it and promoting new plant growth.
- Controls invasive species: Prescribed fire can effectively manage invasive plant species that are less fire-tolerant than native plants, giving native species a competitive advantage.
