Planned burn at Halyburton Park

Wilmington Park and fire officials plan to burn part of Halyburton Park, and will answer your questions about it Monday night. The State Forest Service and Wilmington Fire Department will burn 13 acres of the Long Leaf Pine Forest in January or February. The prescribed burn will help prevent wildfires, improve wildlife habitat, and help long leaf pines and wiregrass, which need fire to survive. The park's recreation supervisor, Andy Fairbanks, said people who live nearby shouldn't be concerned about the burn. "Its low-intensity fire, it's going to burn just the underbrush in the park. Certainly after a short amount of time, park visitors won't even know that a fire had occurred in the park here itself," he said. If you want to learn more about the burn, you can attend a meeting at the events center in Halyburton Park Monday night at 6:30 p.m.