Expert at Naples Botanical Garden speaks on prescribed burns

If you’ve been noticing a smoky haze in your Southwest Florida sunsets, you aren’t alone.

“I thought the whole area was on fire to be honest,” said Estero Resident Michael Wenk.

“Just like gray, it was almost kind of hard to see,” said Estero Resident Harley Davis. “It kind of threw me off. Like I didn’t know where it came from.”

There’s no need to sound the alarms for this smoke in the air, as Southwest Florida is actually seeing many controlled or ‘prescribed’ fires.

• RELATED: Naples Botanical Garden performs prescribed burn in garden area

Eric Foht is the Director of Natural Resources at the Naples Botanical Garden. He said the burns are all a part of a plan.

“A prescribed burn is a planned burn first and foremost,” said Foht. “There’s really lots of reasons you would do a prescribed burn. One would be to help prevent against wildfires.”

Foht said it’s essentially fighting fire with fire.

“By burning those same forests through prescribed burns, it kind of produces that dead plant material, encourages new green plant growth which is less flammable and can kind of protect neighborhoods and communities from wildfires,” said Foht.

When Michael Wenk first saw the smoke in Estero, he didn’t know what to think.

“It would be nice to know it was a controlled burn, because then there is kind of less worry,” said Wenk.

But Foht said a lot of planning goes into maintaining safety on the front lines of the flames and the community.

“So much work goes into preventing smoke from affecting roads, schools, hospitals, neighborhoods,” said Foht. “The way you do that is by picking a day with the right weather conditions. The atmosphere, if it is lifting, will carry the smoke up and away.”

For more information on the Naples Botanical Garden, click here.

A full map of the prescribed burns can be found here.