West Polk County Volunteer Fire and Rescue issued a reminder early Monday that prescribed burns are being conducted at various locations in the Cherokee National Forest throughout the week in Tennessee.
U.S. Forest Service officials will be doing the controlled burns from March 18-24 in the Ocoee Ranger District in the areas of Coon Creek and Clear Creek Road, described as 1,436 acres four miles north of the junction of U.S. Highway 64 and State Route 30. A burn is also planned for 3,496 acres on Smith Mountain about four miles west of Turtletown in the area of Smith Mountain Road, East Fork Wolf Creek and McFarland Road. And lastly, a prescribed burn is planned for 15 acres on Buck Bald, six miles north of Coker Creek, Tennessee.
Across the state line in Georgia, Forest Service officials are conducting prescribed burns in the Blue Ridge Ranger District of Fannin County on Monday, according to the Fannin County Emergency Management Agency.
Monday's prescribed burn is planned to begin at 10 a.m. on 321 acres around Turkey Farm Road and Fish Hook Point in the Aska area, Fannin County EMA officials said. The location is about five miles southeast of Blue Ridge, Georgia, and about three-quarters of a mile east of Aska Road.
Fannin County officials said smoke from the prescribed burns might be seen by residents in areas close to Aska Road, Shallowford Bridge Road, Lake Blue Ridge, Newport Road and the Dial area.
Motorists are urged to use caution in burn areas if smoke reduces visibility.