50 percent of North Carolina residents live with an elevated risk of wildfires which makes it important to understand how to burn responsibly.
Source: Metro
Turnbull Creek Educational State Forest is helping residents burn responsibly.
ELIZABETHTOWN — Over 4.8 million people who reside in North Carolina are living in areas with an elevated risk of wildfires. That equates to half of the state’s population. Currently, North Carolina averages approximately 10 dangerous heat days per year, but that number is expected to be 6 times higher by 2050. These projections make it important for residents to understand how to decrease the risk of wildfires and understand how to execute the importance of executing prescribed burns safely.
Turnbull Creek Educational State Forest will host F.L.A.M.E Week from Feb. 6-10.
F.L.A.M.E. Week is a week-long event hosted by Turnbull Creek Educational State Forest from Feb. 6-10. “F.L.A.M.E.” stands for Fire Learning and Mitigation Education and will provide a series of four daily fire and wildfire-related Zoom webinars. The webinars will feature presentations from knowledgable and experienced NCFS staff and partners. Following the presentations will be an in-person fire-focused Project Learning Tree workshop for educators.
The schedule for the series is as follows:
Feb. 6 at 10 a.m.
“Lighting the Fire: Planning and Executing a Prescribed Burn”
Feb. 7 at 10 a.m.
“Fire Behavior Forecasting”
Feb. 8 at 10 a.m.
“Forest Protection Burning Laws”
Feb. 9 at 10 a.m.
“Wildfire Risk in North Carolina”
Feb. 10
“Fire-focused Project Learning Tree Workshop with site visits to fire-maintained forest areas and live burn demo (weather permitting)”
The workshop will cover topics such as prescribed fire, carbon dioxide emissions, wildlife habitat, fire fuels, and topography. Completing the workshop also provides NC Environmental Educator Certification Criteria I and II credits.
Webinars are open to the general public. Pre-registration is required with limited spaces available.
Pre-registration is required for the online webinar series, as well as the Project Learning Tree. Registration is $10.
Turnbull State Forest is located at 4803 Sweet Home Church Road in Elizabethtown.
More information can be found on the NCFS Facebook page or by calling 910-588-4161.