Spring brings us usually those April showers into those May flowers. Unfortunately, it also brings us into wildfire season in New England.
Thankfully, we have had a pretty rainy spring but still, a low risk for wildfires will continue in northern New England at this time.
STAY IN THE KNOW
 |
Watch NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
 |
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. |
Generally, around until the leaves fill in on the trees and the underbrush grows back, and the dead brush from the winter decomposes more.
Controlled burns
Get top local stories in Boston delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Boston's News Headlines newsletter.
Are you smelling smoke now? There may be a brush fire nearby — most likely, though, it is a prescribed burn.
Prescribed burns are happening across southern New England at this time. In fact, a couple of them show up on our Smoke and Fire tracker map (Rhode Island and in southeastern Massachusetts).
One of interest is from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife across the southeast Pine Barrens Wildlife Management Area. The goal, according to the Plymouth Fire Department, is for "ecological management to restore a pitch pine and oak barren community, improve wildlife habitat, and reduce hazardous fuels."
The benefits of these burns are to make room for new growth, shift soil nutrition, reduce invasive bugs or pests, and reduce the risk of a wildfire that may get quickly out of control.
This controlled burn in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, started Monday and may last through Wednesday. In fact, our smoke forecast shows that the sky will be smoke-filled across Plymouth, to the upper Cape and the South Shore as we get a south wind to move the smoke in that direction.
Canada wildfires
There are almost 100 wildfires burning in British Columbia and Alberta Provinces with activity expected to increase.
The smoke from those fires has created poor air quality over Minnesota and neighboring states early this week.
Remember last June when we had that widespread thick smoke in the sky, hazy sunrises and sets and poor air quality for New England? That is a possibility again.
Hopefully, that isn't the case this year, but we will keep you posted.
