fire

Drawing fire

Local artist Todd Serrano captured in charcoal this image of a controlled prairie burn at Fermilab.

The Fermilab prairie burn season is nearly over. Here, a controlled prairie burn is conducted on a hillside. Fermilab’s trained crew always checks weather conditions and takes every precaution before conducting a burn.

Fermilab Today reader Gordon Garcia of Bartlett, Ill., took this photo of a controlled burn at the prairie east of the Pine Street entrance to Fermilab. The Fermilab Roads and Grounds crew uses small vehicles to transport equipment and monitor prairie burns.

The Fermilab prairie burn season is nearly over. Here, a controlled prairie burn is conducted on a hillside. Fermilab’s trained crew always checks weather conditions and takes every precaution before conducting a burn. Prairie burns help get rid of invasive plants and are essential to restoring the natural habitat.

Fermilab held one of its regularly scheduled prairie burns in March, the immediate aftermath of which is shown in the top photo. Only two months later, green grass has shot up in the burn area.