Prescribed pile burning operations to continue Wednesday

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - UPDATE: The Pocatello Fire Department will continue to conduct prescribed pile burning operations Wednesday, Feb. 14.

Crews will be out from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at multiple sites on the East Bench Area around Summit Drive, Granite Drive and McCaleb Drive.

ORIGINAL: The Pocatello Fire Department will conduct prescribed pile burning operations at multiple sites Tuesday.

From 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., fire personnel will be at multiple sites on the East Bench Area around Summit Drive, Granite Drive and McCaleb Drive.

Officials say the objective is to reduce hazardous fuels in and around the wildland-urban interface area.

"It's always a concern every summer. When things dry out. We're pretty concerned about these areas that are mixed in," Assistant Chief Nick Christensen from the Pocatello Fire Department said.

The fire department shares that they have 60 different piles they are hoping to burn. Preparations for this upcoming burn, have been taken place for the past month.

"We started this preparation months ago because there's a lot of things going in, not only just notify homeowners of it, but also making sure that it's safe," Kim Stouse the Public Information Officer said

Prescribed burning is the final phase of treatment for fuels reduction on the East Bench as part of the Western States Fire Managers Grant the City received. Burning will be conducted under specific guidelines and plans.

The Pocatello Fire Department even has plans in place in case the prescribed burns get out of hand.

"These are fairly small piles that we don't have a big concern about them going anywhere that that we don't expect. But we've made plans and provisions if something bad were to happen," Assistant Chief Christensen said.

"We'll still have crews here monitoring it just to make sure it doesn't rekindle and into them later hours to make sure that it's they're completely out. But the burning operations will stop by no later than four," Stouse said.

The fire department asks you do not call 911 to report smoke in the area during these burning operations. Motorists are urged to use caution while traveling in this area as intermittent periods of heavy smoke may cause lower visibility and alternate routes should be considered. If you suffer from any respiratory conditions that could be aggravated by smoke, you may consider avoiding being in the area during this time.

Burning operations did finish at 4:00 p.m. Monday Afternoon. Crews will stay in the area for the rest of the day monitoring the area, to make sure no forest get started. However, there is a way you can help the crews as they monitor the fires.

"It wouldn't be surprising to see some smoke just because of the residual heat, that's not uncommon. Or just as the wind comes up, and there was some like some smoke coming up. That's not uncommon. But if you did definitely saw flames, we'd want you to give us a call," Stouse said.