A smoky haze in southern Trigg County that has wafted north to Caldwell and Lyons counties is the result of a controlled fire at Fort Campbell. Tuesday afternoon, the public affairs office at Fort Campbell said the fire began during routine training and that personnel are still actively managing the fire.
Staff from the Directorate of Public Works; Plans, Training, Mobilization and Security; and Emergency Services are employing controlled burn techniques to manage the fire.
Clinton Allen, the DPW conservation branch chief, said backfires were lit to create a buffer space that will keep it from getting closer to the boundary with Land Between the Lakes.
The fire has burned through several hundred acres in an area that Fort Campbell addresses annually with controlled burns. The Forestry Section burns approximately 20,000 acres each year to support training operations and preserve the natural environment. Controlled burns typically occur in March and November each year and are focused on the small arms impact and the north and south impact areas.
The controlled burn process also helps DPW preserve The Barrens, a grassland habitat spanning more than 7,000 acres across the rear training area. It was originally part of a 200-mile Native American hunting stretch called the Big Barrens, according to Fort Campbell Cultural Resources.
Fort Campbell Forester J.P. Hart encouraged people who live near Fort Campbell property, especially in southern Trigg and Christian counties, to keep an eye out for potential hazards if they see smoke or fire and to report it to the Range Fire Desk at 270-798-4122 if they are concerned about a fire in the southern areas of the counties.
Several long-time residents of southern Trigg County near the Roaring Springs area took to social media over the weekend to say the smoke was the worst they had experienced. Dry and windy conditions helped moved the smoke north with plumes visible in Hopkinsville with the smell detected inside homes in Cadiz.
Fort Campbell officials did not say whether Tuesday’s rain would affect the controlled burn.
