Alabama controlled burn morphs into wildfire
Published 10:50 pm Friday, April 17, 2020
Crews worked Friday to put out a wildfire in Alabama that started as a controlled burn.
The Alabama Forestry Commission said the fire began Thursday on 250 acres of Alabama Power property in south Mobile County as part of the company’s plan to manage vegetation, WKRG-TV reported.
The burn whipped out of control, however, and spread to an additional 180 acres, authorities said.
Investigators assessing the fire Friday found several areas still burning. On Thursday, a number of different agencies had to be brought in in order to keep the fire away from homes.
Firefighters said current conditions — especially the winds — make burning anything dangerous.
“It doesn’t take much for a single ember to be lifted and transported some place else,” Mobile Fire-Rescue spokesman Steven Millhouse told the television station.