Despite wind issues, fire investigators conduct prescribed burn

Fire investigators from Rural/Metro conducted a prescribed burn at Avenue 3E and County 15th Street on Monday morning, successfully burning large piles of citrus trees.

According to Charly McMurdie, public information officer Rural/Metro Fire Deptment, fire investigators initially decided not to burn at that location because the wind would have blown the smoke into a nearby RV park.

Because of the problem with the direction the wind was blowing at the time, fire inspectors decided instead to try conducting a burn at an alternate site at Avenue I and County 14th Street. Fire Investigator Cori Schultz said while at the second site the wind shifted and began coming from the northeast, prompting the inspectors to cancel the planned burn at that location as well.

Schultz said the direction the wind was blowing at the Avenue I site could have blown embers into nearby brush, and they did not want to risk a brush fire.

McMurdie said since winds from the northeast were perfect for the original prescribed burn site at County 15th Street, fire inspectors headed back there and were able to conduct the burn there instead.

“The burn went smooth and without any problems,” McMurdie said. “The wind blew the smoke away from the RV park that was nearby. We're doing everything in our power to accommodate the folks in the RV park.”

Schultz said the prescribed burn was completed quickly in order to give the smoke it generated time to dissipate before nightfall.

Fire inspectors will try again on Tuesday morning to conduct the prescribed burn at the Avenue I site. If winds prevent that from happening they will move on to another location.

Fire investigators from Rural/Metro conducted a prescribed burn at Avenue 3E and County 15th Street on Monday morning, successfully burning large piles of citrus trees.