Smoke from Fort Hood settles over Killeen

Virginia Sanders, supervisor of the endangered species management team with the Department of Public Works, told the Herald around 4:15 p.m. Friday that she believed the smoke was from the prescribed burns.

“I got a call from my supervisor about 30 minutes ago, and he said that there was quite a bit of smoke on the main cantonment area, so in Killeen, that’s probably the same thing,” Sanders said.

Winds on Friday blew generally from the north and at speeds below 10 mph, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Allison Prater.

By midafternoon, the burn, which started around 10 a.m. Friday, was complete minus some smoldering, Sanders explained.

“It’ll take a little while for the winds to move it through, and unfortunately, the winds aren’t very high; they’re pretty slow right now, so that’s probably part of the reason,” she said.

Fort Hood is planning three more controlled burns Saturday in three areas near Belton Lake. By the time the burns start, however, winds should have shifted.

“(The winds) will turn out of the south late tonight in the overnight hours,” Prater said. “In the morning, it’s around 5 miles an hour or less, but once we get to about noon, it will probably be 10-15 mph out of the south.”

Fort Hood regularly conducts controlled burns in the training areas during winter months as a way to help prevent massive wildfires.