INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Motorists will likely see smoke from prescribed burns planned for this week at a state park, officials said.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s St. Sebastian River Preserve will conduct 200-acre burns daily at its state park from 10 a.m. to about 3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, said park manager Dylan Gavagni. The Sebastian River Preserve State Park stretches from southern Brevard County to northern Indian River County.
Officials will burn scrub and scrubby flat woods in the southwest part on Wednesday and the southeast part on Thursday, Gavagni said. Smoke will be visible until about 4 p.m. to motorists driving on Interstate 95 and County Road 512.
Prescribed burns help restore healthy forests, reduce increasing undergrowth and help prevent potential wildfires, officials said.
“A maintained habitat will have a less risk for wildfire than a habitat that is not maintained,” Gavagni said. “Fire is a tool that increases bio-diversity in an ecosystem – species diversity, increased species population and more.”