PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Smoke from a prescribed burn in Pasco County caused a school to close its doors on Wednesday morning, but agency officials said the burn was critical to prevent uncontrollable wildfires.
School officials said River Ridge High School and Middle School in New Port Richey are monitoring the burn. In a Facebook post, the school said students who have been picked up by bus will be taken back to their bus stop.
A later statement from the Southwest Florida Water Management District said the agency conducted the 107-acre burn at Starkey Wilderness Preserve yesterday after the Florida Forest Service authorized it based on predicted weather conditions.
The prescribed fire burned down a large amount of dead trees from the 2017 wildfire as well as hurricane debris, which is causing the clean up to take longer than usual. Officials said all available burn staff are at the property today to mop up any smoldering debris.
"We apologize for the unexpected conditions that caused smoke and area school closures," the statement read.
While the campus is closed today, school officials said they hope to resume normal activities tomorrow.
Agency officials added that prescribed fires are critical to help protect the community from the spread of uncontrolled wildfires like the recent ones in California.
“I was about to make some breakfast and then my mom sent me the email that said we don’t have school today because of smoke. I was pretty happy. I went back to bed,” said River Ridge student Parker Melton, “
While students appear to have enjoyed the day off, some people expressed frustration on the ABC Action News Facebook page.
One woman wrote “poor planning..again.”
Another wondered why the burn wasn’t done next week when the kids are on spring break.
In Jaunary, I talked to the fire chief about the importance of controlled burns in trying to limit wildfires like the one in 2017 that burned more than 2,000 acres.
“It was a rather large fire for our area and we were able to successfully mitigate that without losing any homes,” said Chief Ryan Guynn.
You can visit the Florida Forest Service’s website to track fires and see which ones are prescribed burns.
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