Controlled burn at Summit County Public Shooting Range sets hillside ablaze in effort to reduce wildfire risk
Firefighters lit the hillside above the Summit County Public Shooting Range ablaze April 24, in a type of controlled burn operation not conducted in the county in decades. More than one wildfire has sparked at the shooting range in recent years. So, the prescribed burn, known as a broadcast burn, aims to reduce the risk of another wildfire starting from shooting at the range in the future, U.S. Forest Service Dillon District Ranger Adam Bianchi explained. “It’s a tool we haven’t really been able to use,” Bianchi said of broadcast burns. “We want to show that fire can be good for the landscape. If this is positive, we can do more of these.”
