Fall 2017 prescribed burn season at Fort Indiantown Gap begins

Photo By Ted Nichols | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. -- Installation natural resources personnel conduct a prescribed burn to reduce the risk of wildfire and improve the quality of wildlife habitat on the more than 17,000-acre training center. Prescribed burns are a commonly used land management technique that reduces the amount of combustible material (leaf litter and dead grass naturally occurring in the natural landscape) and performed only when conditions such as humidity, wind, and temperature are ideal for managing fires and not conducted unless all required weather conditions are met. The installation has conducted more than 200 prescribed burns over the past 15 years. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Ted Nichols/Released)  

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PA, UNITED STATES

10.11.2017

Courtesy Story

Fort Indiantown Gap

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

The burns will be conducted on approximately 4,200 acres, as conditions permit, Oct. 16 through Nov. 22 between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. Local residents may notice smoke originating from or in the vicinity of the installation while burns are being conducted.

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, headquarters to the DMVA and Pennsylvania National Guard, offers more than 17,000 acres and 140 training areas and facilities for year-round training. It balances one of the region’s most ecologically diverse areas with a military mission that annually supports 19,000 Pennsylvania National Guard personnel and more than 130,000 other states’ Guard, military, law enforcement, and civilian personnel each year. It is the busiest National Guard training center in the nation.

For more information visit the Fort Indiantown Gap website at ftig.png.pa.gov, or follow us on Facebook at 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: Lt. Col. Angela King-Sweigart, 717-861-6254

• Date Taken: 10.11.2017
• Date Posted: 10.11.2017 14:15
• Story ID: 251203
• Location: FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PA, US