Two small areas possibly affecting Montgomery County residents are experiencing prescribed burns by the national forest fire managers.
There is a five acre area in the Mount Ida area affected by a prescribed burn and a one acre near Langley.
The USDA Forest Service Southern Region is taking a risk-informed approach to managing prescribed fire by evaluating the following factors: (1) the ability to maintain fire responder viability and sustainability; (2) potential smoke impacts to communities from prescribed fire and how that interacts with COVID-19 effects; and (3) the ability to use local resources so inter-state travel is not necessary.
Smaller scale prescribed fires will resume in select locations to achieve critical forest management objectives. They will continue to pay special attention to smoke management and the safety of the public and firefighters during all operations
Prescribed burns expected to occur today, Thursday, June 18, 2020, include:
Ouachita National Forest
Poteau Cold Springs Ranger District County: Scott
Vicinity: Waldron Acres: 240
Caddo- Womble Ranger District County: Montgomery
Vicinity: Langley Acres: 1
Caddo-Womble Ranger District County: Montgomery
Vicinity: Mt Ida Acres: 5
Oklahoma Ranger District Acres: 450
Vicinity: Hodgen County: Leflore
A prescribed fire is one that is ignited by highly trained fire personnel under specified fuel and weather conditions to achieve specific resource objectives.
Daily prescribed fire updates can also be found at: www.fs.usda.gov/ouachita or by calling 1-888-243-1042.
In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.
