Forest Service holds controlled burn

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Derek Ibarguen, London District Ranger for the Daniel Boone National Forest, left, and Matt Ellis, explain how the controlled burn of about 1,900 acres on a peninsula into Laurel River Lake is conducted. Photo by Carl Keith Green

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April 2, 2010

U.S. department lights fire in Auger Springs area

Anonymous The Times-Tribune The Times-Tribune Fri Apr 02, 2010, 09:25 AM EDT

CORBIN — By Carl Keith Greene / Staff Writer

Nearly 1,900 acres of Daniel Boone Forest were burned Friday in a controlled fire by the U.S. Forest Service.

The fire was set on the Auger Springs peninsula that juts into Laurel River Lake, across from the dam that created the lake in the early 1970s.

The controlled burn will improve animal habitats, reduce the leaves that fuel unplanned wildfires, and protect a 12-acre short-leaf pine plantation, said Derek Ibarguen, the new district ranger.

Before setting the fire, about 30 workers cleared firebreaks along the road that runs from Keavy to Laurel River Lake. Firebreaks are areas devoid of leaves and other combustible material that can slow or stop a fire from spreading.

Workers then used drip-torches to burn away the unwanted leaves and brush along the forest floor.

With the firebreak in place, the main fire on the peninsula was started with materials dropped from a helicopter.

It was expected to take about two hours for the peninsula fire to burn itself out, said Matt Ellis, London District fire management officer.

“Then,” he explained, “we’ll have a wooded perimeter along the lake, and the highlands and ridge tops will come back with native grasses.”

The overnight humidity was expected to clear most of the fire’s smoke, which would be gone totally in a couple of days, Ellis said.

Thursday’s was the second of four burns scheduled to be completed in the London district by April 15.

“We wait for very specific conditions,” Ibarguen said.

“There are many things that go into that, not just, ‘It looks like a good day to burn’,” added Ellis noting that temperature, wind speed and relative humidity along with other factors are considered.

A controlled burn has been done at the site every couple of years for the past 10 or 15 years, Ibarguen said.

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