COLUMBIA, S.C. — You might have noticed smoke in the air throughout the area. With the beginning of wildfire season, there have been prescribed burns in the area.
“We call it a prescribed fire, you know, you go to the doctor and you have a cough and they prescribe you medicine, they write a prescription for you to take the medicine. We’re writing a prescription for the land,” said Daryl Jones, forest protection chief at the South Carolina Forestry Commission.
Jones says he says there are many reasons for prescribed fires.
“Prescribed fires are really an essential tool for land managers and they can be for different things, managing wildlife habitat, reducing hazardous fuels, site preparation if you’re getting ready to plant in an area, controlling insects disease or even agriculture field, preparing to plant a farm field,” Jones said.
According to Chief Jones, fire season lasts from February to May and prescribed burns help prepare for the case of a wildfire.
“An area that hasn't been burned that’s got years and years of leaves and limbs and fuel accumulated so if we have a wild fire in that kind of place that hasn’t been burned, it's been fire suppressed for whatever reason there’s a lot more fuel to burn when a fire happens. The flame links are higher , fires move faster, they burn with more intensity, it makes it more difficult to stop it makes it easier for people or houses to get threatened,” he said.
Despite it being good for the land, doctors say burning in the area can have an impact on those with allergies and asthma.
“Controlled burns and things like that can release various kinds of chemicals and irritants in the air that will make the airway more sensitive, more hyperactive to where the little muscles that sort of line our lungs can get twitchy and close off and you can have asthma attacks,” Hector Rodriguez, allergist at Allergy Partners of the Midlands said.
People who are wanting to burn fires have to notify the Forestry Commission beforehand.
“We have certain rules and guidelines that help define how much can be burned on a certain day or days when it's not a good day to burn because the smoke is just not going to escape and it's going to stay down low where it impacts people,” Jones said.
According to the SC Forestry Commission there were over a thousand prescribed fires throughout the Midlands in 2023
“All fire isn't bad but a fire in the wrong place at the wrong time can be so we try and use prescribed fires to reduce fuels and minimize the chance for a wildfire causing a bad problem. All in all it ends up being a positive effect,” Jones said.
Click here to see all the active burns throughout the state.