The Econ River Wilderness Area closes Monday. Seminole County said it will be closed for about two weeks as crews work to prepare for prescribed burns.
During an interview on Talk to Tom, Allegra Buyer, the Natural Resources Program Coordinator for Seminole County said there are two main reasons for prescribed burns.
She said the first is to prevent catastrophic wildfires.
“If all this burned right now, the flame heights would be very high and it would be very hard to control and it would be very hard for firefighters to come in and stop it,” Buyer said. But, once crews cut down some of the brush she said crews will be prepared even if lighting did strike.
“We can bring in firetrucks very easily and put up enough water on the fire to control it quickly,” Buyer said.
The other reason is habitats have adapted to it.