As drought continues, Mississippi Forestry Commission continues fighting wildfires with prescribed burns

HARRISON COUNTY, Miss. (WXXV) — Seeing smoke billowing from a distance can be concerning, especially as South Mississippi continues to face abnormally dry conditions.

Despite this, some county supervisors still allow controlled burns to take place, and the reason why may be a bit surprising to some.

“If you have a property that has not burned in 10 to 15 years, it’s going to have a lot of fuel buildup,” Kevin Craft, the Outreach and Public Information Officer for the Mississippi Forestry Commission, explained. “So if a wildfire does get in there, it’s going to be potentially catastrophic for the timber and very hard to control.”

According to Craft, peak fire season begins on October 1st and runs through the end of April, but droughts, low humidity and high winds can cause fires at any time. The Magnolia State is impacted by an average of 1,700 wildfires per year, all ranging in size and impact.

These fires can be devastating, especially to the state’s national parks and forests. That’s why even during exceptionally dry times, the Mississippi Forestry Commission continues to perform prescribed burns of these areas.

“They’re trying to reduce the wildfire risk by taking the fuel load down, and so, a lot of your DeSoto National Park or your national forest properties, they’re doing that to mitigate the event of a wildfire getting in that stand of timber,” Craft said.

Concerned South Mississippians also have a way to see if the smoke they might see in the distance is part of a controlled burn or something to be worried about. A map of controlled burns can be accessed by clicking here.

Despite the fact that none of the Southern Six counties are currently under a burn ban, the Mississippi Forestry Commission still urges extreme caution when using open flames outdoors.