FORT SILL Okla_ Smoke and
flames filled the air over Fort
Sill today, as part of
the installation's prescribed burn.
The controlled
burn is designed help stop any future fires from sparking.
Firefighters
purposely set fire to about 100 acres of dry brush along Rogers Lane, between 38th and 52nd streets.
That's the southern perimeter of the Fort
Sill installation.
Post Fire Chief
Clint Langford said should a wildfire head towards Lawton from post, the already-charred land
would make it difficult for the fire to spread.
"With the
extreme conditions," Langford said, "and the exceptional drought we have, we
have to do everything we can to ensure wildfires stay under control. Being good
neighbors with the city of Lawton,
our neighboring jurisdiction, we've got to protect them as well as
ourselves."
Chief Langford
said right now, houses sit about 1,500 feet from post borders. Today's
prescribed burn adds an additional 1,000 feet before a fire would reach the
houses.
He said they
aren't finished, though. Another prescribed burn has been approved for dry
brush between 38th and 90th streets along Rogers Lane. He said the goal is to have
at least 30 prescribed burns per year. Lawton
firefighters and their trucks stood by to help, but weather conditions turned
out to be just right for the burn.
