Fort Indiantown Gap begins spring prescribed burn season for wildfire prevention

Courtesy Photo | An approximately 20-acre prescribed burn was conducted by forestry staff at Fort Indiantown Gap, Feb. 28, 2012. Prescribed burns are a forestry management technique used to reduce the amount of combustible material naturally existing in the wilderness. They are conducted when conditions such as humidity, wind, temperature are ideal for managing fires. Prescribed burns are not conducted unless all required weather conditions are met. The prescribed burn season at Fort Indiantown Gap for this half of 2012 should last through April. (Photo by Tom Cherry/Released)  

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES

03.07.2016

Story by Tech. Sgt. Ted Nichols 

Fort Indiantown Gap

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. - Fort Indiantown Gap has begun its spring prescribed burn season to reduce the risk of wildfire at Fort Indiantown Gap, Lebanon County.

The burns will be conducted on approximately 2,500 acres as conditions permit March 7 through May 20 between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Local residents may notice smoke originating from or in the vicinity of installation when burns are being conducted.

Announcements of when burns are being conducted are posted the day of to the Fort Indiantown Gap Facebook page.

A prescribed burn is a commonly used forestry management technique that reduces the amount of combustible material naturally existing in the wilderness. It is performed only when conditions such as humidity, wind and temperature are ideal for managing fires. Prescribed burns are not conducted unless all required conditions are met.

Fort Indiantown Gap is the only live-fire, maneuver military training facility in Pennsylvania. It serves as headquarters to the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and Pennsylvania National Guard and offers more than 17,000 acres and 140 training areas and facilities for year-round training. The installation balances one of the region’s most ecologically diverse areas with a military mission that annually supports 20,000 Pennsylvania National Guard personnel and more than 120,000 additional personnel from other branches of service, multinational partners and interagency partners at the federal, state and local level.

For more information visit the Fort Indiantown Gap website at www.ftig.pa.gov or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ftindiantowngap.

Individuals may also call the installation’s community information line at 717-861-2007 to hear a recorded message with dates and times of community activities and training events.

Media contact: Tech. Sgt. Ted Nichols, 717-861-6893

• Date Taken: 03.07.2016
• Date Posted: 03.07.2016 10:09
• Story ID: 191387
• Location: FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, US