[CPEO-MEF] Safe burning OK'd on base

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Safe burning OK'd on base
Specialists say the controlled burns will help protect habitats and 
reduce hazards of wildfires.

By KEVIN DENNEHY
STAFF WRITER
CAMP EDWARDS - When the trees are dry and the winds pick up, even a 
spark in these thousands of acres of untouched pitch pines and scrub oak 
can explode into a raging monster very quickly.

It's happened before. As recently as the 1960s, a wildfire tore a 
scorched path off the Upper Cape post, ripped its way across Route 6, 
and didn't stop until it reached Route 6A.

So when the National Guard and the Nature Conservancy torch a swath of 
the woods later this year, it will be on their terms.

For the first in a series of controlled burns - a common practice to 
protect the habitat and make wildfires less likely - the temperature, 
humidity and wind will be just so.

And dozens of firefighters and fire management specialists from around 
the state will be ready.

"Wildfires are uncontrolled, can run amok, build their own weather 
system and destroy whatever is in their pathway," said Michael Ciaranca, 
the natural resources manager for the National Guard's Environmental and 
Readiness Center on Camp Edwards.

Through prescribed fires, you can reduce the hazard, and (the fire) can 
be managed."

For the first time, the state Department of Environmental Protection 
will allow the military to start controlled burns across much of Camp 
Edwards. Before, the practice was allowed only in the impact area, a 
former target range in the heart of the base where artillery fire once 
fell regularly.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/archives/2002/mar/18/safeburning18.htm