Tuesday wildfires burned 100 acres of Homochitto National Forest
Published 10:46 am Wednesday, February 21, 2024
MEADVILLE — Wildfires in Franklin County were finally contained Tuesday night. Homochitto National Forest District Ranger Shaun Williamson reported two fires burned a total of 103 acres on national forest land.
United States Forest Service Fire Units initially responded to an active wildfire on the Homochitto National Forest in Franklin County Tuesday morning. The USFS stated the call of a wildfire came in at 11:10 a.m. on Lottie Myers Road. Williamson reported the fire on Lottie Myers Road burned up to 43 acres and was 100 percent contained by Tuesday afternoon. Williamson said a private land prescribed burn got out of hand and the fire spread to the forest service land.
Around 11:43 a.m., the USFS reported they were responding to a report of smoke in Franklin County near Knoxville Road. NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management Systems satellite map indicates the fire is on a private parcel of property on Knoxville Road and detected an area of 42 acres in size. FIRMS reports the fire was picked up at 1:09 p.m. by satellite.
Mississippi Forestry Commission responded to the Knoxville Road and began fighting it. Williamson said the fire spread to USFS land and they were able to contain the fire around 5 p.m. Tuesday. He reported the fire on Knoxville Road burned about 60 acres of Forest Service Land.
In addition to the wildfires, USFS was able to complete a prescribed burn in the vicinity of Okhissa Lake.
“Neither fire was related to or in the vicinity of a Forest Service prescribed fire,” Williamson said. “We are very happy we had the resources for all.”