WESTOVER AIR RESERVE BASE, Mass. -- Westover personnel plan to use prescribed fires to burn about 200 acres of grassland located within the base property on Tuesday November 2. Airfield areas to be burned include those in the general vicinities of Westover Airpark North, Westover Golf Course, the Hampden County Correctional Center, Westover Metropolitan Airport and the interior of the base.
Burning will be carried out and managed by trained U.S. Fish and Wildlife wildland firefighters and Westover ARB Fire Department personnel, who will use safe burning practices.
Their prescribed fire plan avoids factors which might affect the local community such as smoke and spread of the fire outside intended areas. Burning will take place with eye-level wind gusts of 20 mph or less. Thus the burning should not pose a safety risk.
Winds aloft disperse and transport the smoke away from the immediate area. The firefighters will wet bordering vegetation or use other firebreaks to manage the fires. Local fire departments will be advised of the prescribed burning.
Prescribed fire is a recognized natural resources management tool used to maintain healthy grasslands and to reduce grassy fuels. Westover’s prescribed fires will help prevent wildfires and remove broadleaf weeds and other invasive vegetation.