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Pictorial
The Cool Springs fireunit assists the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy in the Mare Run controlled burn on Warm Springs Mountain - the first here on TNC's Preserve property, and a necessary step in helping control wildfires.This year saw record numbers of devastating fires across the country, and in Virginia. Millions of dollars in property damage, and some lives, succumbed to out of control blazes. Not all forest fires are preventable; Mother Nature tends to do her own thing, and on occasion, so do people who either accidentally or purposefully set the woods ablaze. But forestry officials know they can maintain some control by burning off much of the fuel that could make a firehotter and more dangerous. Residents in our area are sometimes inconvenienced by thick smoke in the roads or even seeping into their homes, but they should be aware this dangerous task our trained firefightershandle each year could possibly save homes and lives at risk in well-forested lands here. Kudos to those who so expertly got the job done this week. (Recorder photo by Cynthia Coleman)
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