“Firewise” meeting next week at Oconee State Park

The South Carolina Forestry Commission will host a “Firewise” meeting next week in Oconee County to help the community learn more about protecting homes from wildfire and how controlled burns can help.  The meeting is set for the office at Oconee State Park at 6 pm, Thursday, Dec. 8.  Firefighter professionals will lead the program, discussing topics ranging from how to prepare structures and landscapes to resist wildfire, especially in today’s drought conditions; to best ways to evacuate when threatened by wildfire, and how controlled burns conducted by public land management agencies decrease the risk of wildfire. The session is part of a long-range plan of the Fire Learning Network, collaboration between several land-management organizations that are planning controlled burns this winter in Upstate South Carolina, including the South Carolina Forestry Commission, the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Forest Service. While details of those plans will be available later in December, the network’s priority is public safety and public awareness.