Firefighters complete prescribed burn at Highland Village park

Highland Village firefighters have completed a prescribed burn at a local park that has long been closed to the public.

In September 2013, Copperas Branch Park was closed and used as construction staging area for the expansion of Interstate 35E, according to a city news release.

“Now that the expansion is complete, city crews are preparing the park for use by the public,” the city news release said.

Five years without maintenance has led to substantial overgrowth in the area, so this week the Highland Village Fire Department conducted a prescribed burn of about 22 acres in the park, located in the northeast corner of the city, near Lewisville Lake.

The fire department announced on social media Wednesday afternoon that the burn was complete. Some burnt areas may smolder for a day or two, and firefighters will be monitoring it.

The prescribed burn is a part of wild land management designed to restore the natural resource with vital nutrients and reduce dangerous fire threats. These carefully applied fires are an important tool to help restore and maintain vital habitat for wildlife and plants. This burn is part of numerous projects to restore the park to its beauty and re-open it to public access.