PHOENIX — If you saw smoke southwest of Phoenix on Wednesday don't worry, it was the result of a prescribed burn to help improve nearby wetlands.
The prescribed burn, conducted by the City of Phoenix, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, covered 50 acres of the Tres Rios Wetlands in Phoenix.
Capt. Rob McDade, Phoenix Fire Department, said the main focus of the burn is to help the wetland function as a better natural filtration system.
McDade said because of the combination of water in sun, there's too much overgrowth of the vegetation.
"It's actually not beneficial for the wildlife to thrive out here when it gets too overgrown," McDade said. "[And scientists] have told us that when you burn that material as mother nature would with natural forest fires, [happening from] lightning strikes, the minerals and the compounds that come from a burn are actually essential to the area."
Leondro Garcia, Deputy Water Services Director for Wastewater Treatment at the City of Phoenix, said they regularly send highly treated wastewater to the Tres Rios Wetland.
After reaching the wetlands Garcia said water is further polished by the wetland and water is sent back out to the Salt Water River.
Garcia said maintaining the wetland area through a controlled burn is a more cost-effective method that saves taxpayers money.
"The cost to mitigate vegetation is very expensive," Garcia said. "We do it mechanically, so with this prescribed burn we not only reduce the cost significantly it also helps training for different departments."
McDade said the prescribed burn offers his department an opportunity to refine their skills.
"It's basically just an invaluable training session for us, for our wildland team that actually are all Phoenix firefighters," McDade said. "We interact with different agencies, talk on the radios. We put these fires out."
According to the City of Phoenix, after a prescribed burn, the perimeter is sprayed with water to fully extinguish the remaining flames.
The water is then tested for quality before being released out to the Tres Rios Overbank Wetlands.