US and NC Forest Service to conduct burns today

Press Release
For Immediate Release
Macon County Emergency Management
March 7, 2016
Todd Seagle, 911 Communications Supervisor

The USFS will be conducting two prescribed burns today. They will be burning 1,000 acres in the Nantahala community near USFS road 711. They will also be burning 800 acres in North Georgia close to the state line near the Scaly Mountian/Sky Valley community. The NCFS will conduct a prescribed burn of approximately 100 acres in the Otto community and the NCWRC will be conducting a prescribed burn of 200 acres in the Needmore community in northern Macon County. With winds predicted to be out of the southwest today, it is a possibility that these control burns will be seen and directly affect the Franklin, Highlands, and Otto areas of Macon County.

The Macon County 911 Center would like to ask that residents refrain from calling 911 to report these control burns as wildfires or to inquire as to the source of the smoke. As always, residents should continue to report emergency situations they believe to be threatening life or property.