COMMERCE CITY, Colorado — Smoke on Thursday afternoon in the area of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is due to a prescribed burn taking place, according to social media posts from the Arsenal.
Thursday was the first of several days of planned burns at the refuge in Commerce City. The burns are planned through Monday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., weather permitting.
Smoke will be visible for several miles from the perimeter of the refuge, and people in the area may smell smoke, according to the agency. The burns were to start Wednesday, but conditions were not good, according to the agency.
Several hundred acres were burned in March as part of prescribed burns.
The purpose of the burns is to reinvigorate the growth of native prairie vegetation, reduce accumulated litter, manage efforts for weed control and improve habitat to sustain wildlife, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Prescribed burns are a tool land managers use to reduce the risk of wildfire in the wildland urban interface.
Interagency fire crews from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, other federal agencies, and local fire departments will be participating in the prescribed burns.
Prescribed fire smoke may affect your health. For more information, see colorado.gov.
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