The U.S. Forest Service will conduct a prescribed burn near Hot Springs today. Here are the details:
Location: The burn area is located two miles southeast of Hot Springs and includes approximately 2,200 acres of the Porter’s Mill burn unit and the north Big Wilson burn unit.
Date and Time: Forest Service fire specialists, The Nature Conservancy, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, among others, will begin the burn on April 4, 2022. The ignition-phase will likely be completed today using both aerial and ground ignitions. Firefighters will continue to monitor the burn area for several days until the fire is extinguished by rain. You may see flames and smoke from this prescribed burn for several days.
Purpose: Prescribed burns improve wildlife habitat by restoring open woodlands and grasslands to the forest landscape. Safety is the Forest Service’s top priority, and Forest fire managers will conduct prescribed burns only under appropriate weather conditions.
Additional Information and Road/Trail Closures: Salt Pond Ridge Trail (Forest Trail 620),Brushy Ridge Trail (Forest Trail 456), Little Mare Mountain Trail (Forest Trail 714), and Brushy Ridge Rd (Forest Road 1901) will be closed. Expect to see increased truck traffic on Limekiln Road (Forest Road 194). The prescribed burn is expected to have lingering smoke effects in the Hot Springs area, the Ingalls Field Airport and along the State Route 39, State Route 629 and U.S. Route 220 corridors.