HOT SPRINGS -- Thousands of acres of the Ouachita National Forest are being burned off as part of a series of prescribed fires, the U.S. Forest Service posted on social media Monday.
Six fires were expected to be set Monday, the Forest Service posted on the Facebook page for the Ouachita National Forest.
The forest service estimated a total of 16,852 acres would be burned across Garland, Montgomery, Polk and Scott counties in addition to 3,100 acres set to be burned in Oklahoma's McCurtain County.
The largest burn scheduled for Monday was in Garland County near Onyx, estimated to cover 5,648 acres.
The East End Bear Mountain Burn, in Montgomery County near Crystal Springs Recreation Area, was estimated to cover 4,471 acres.
Several burns were scheduled to be set over the weekend, posts by the forest service said.
A media kit from the U.S. Forest Service said prescribed fires are important for the safety of the communities near them as they remove "flammable debris and vegetation (fuel for fire), thereby making landscapes more resistant to wildfire."
"The primary goal of prescribed burns is to reduce the potential for large, costly, catastrophic wildfires," Joshua Graham, Ouachita and Ozark-St. Francis National Forests' fire and aviation staff officer, said in a news release.
"Other important objectives include increasing food and cover for wildlife, increasing plant germination, or reducing fuels, such as leaf litter, woody debris, brush and small trees. Fire is a critical ecological process for our forests, and without it, many populations of native plants and animals could decline. Areas are continually monitored after completed burns to evaluate the response of vegetation and wildlife to prescribed burning," he said.
According to information from the Forest Service, 319,877 acres of land underwent prescribed burns in 2021.
"Unlike wildfire, when we conduct a prescribed burn, we must adhere to air quality standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, which means we must plan for smoke," Graham said in the release.
"Depending on the proximity to the national forest lands, there could be times that communities will be impacted for a short time during the late afternoon and evening hours while the smoke settles near the surface. Fire managers work to minimize this impact by limiting late ignition times," he said.
While those setting prescribed burns do what they can to keep smoke from overtaking areas or the fire escaping containment, there is always a risk, the release said.
"The burn plan is designed to reduce the risk of a fire escaping and to mitigate smoke exposure to communities," it said. "If a prescribed burn were to escape, contingencies are outlined in the burn plan. In general, that includes ordering additional pre-identified firefighting resources that are on standby, ready to respond to such an emergency."
The U.S. Forest Service updates where prescribed burns are taking place via an interactive map located at:
http://tinyurl.com/53mbch5m
Smoke from a prescribed burn on Bear Mountain can be seen from Highway 270. The burn, which the U.S. Forest Service estimates to cover nearly 4,500 acres, is one of several burns in Ouachita National Forest that are scheduled for this year's burn cycle. (The Sentinel-Record/James Leigh)
A series of small fires burn on Bear Mountain near the Brady Mountain Trailhead Monday as part of a nearly 4,500-acre prescribed burn in the Ouachita National Forest. (The Sentinel-Record/James Leigh)