CHARLESTON, S.C. — Back-to-back prescribed fires in Francis Marion National Forest have pushed smoke and a smell of burning wood across parts of the Charleston area this week, and people with breathing problems are being urged to keep an eye on air quality.
The U.S. Forest Service set the planned fires on consecutive days near Awendaw. On Oct. 28, crews treated 279 acres along Ion Swamp, Lethcoe and Willow Hall roads. A second burn, 286 acres close to Lethcoe Road, came on Oct. 29.
The agency said the fire is contained. Light winds and overnight conditions let the smoke settle over the region rather than clear out, and the haze could be seen and smelled as far away as West Ashley.
Forest officials expected the first burn to send smoke toward Awendaw and the Berkeley County community of Huger, while the second was likely to reach neighborhoods near Halfway Creek and United Drive.
The Forest Service says it only lights these fires when weather, fuel and air conditions meet its safety limits. The goal is to thin overgrown brush and cut the risk of a larger wildfire near homes, roads and other property.
Northeast winds off the coast, which also brought rip currents and small-craft advisories this week, could carry the haze farther, according to the National Weather Service.
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Filed under: Charleston SC Public Safety News
