By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Smoke filled the sky just before noon on Feb. 7. No worries though, it was just a controlled burn in Pool 2 of Cheyenne Bottoms. Wildlife Manager Jason Wagner said it was something he had wanted to do for an extended period of time, and conditions were finally right to burn off some cattails and phragmites.
"The results were really good," he said. "We got the cattails burned off. It took us a little bit to get everything reignited. It was going alright, then the wind switched just a little bit, and that's when it went really well. I couldn't have asked for a better burn for that area."
Wagner gathered enough staff for the fire on short notice. After an exciting outpour of smoke when the fire was started, staff eventually grew bored, which Wagner prefers to scrambling around. He said it's always scary to light up 500 acres of fuel, but the fire ultimately burned off most of the cattails.
"A lot of times when you're burning cattails, the stock and seedhead stay on there," he said. "It was such an intense fire that those burned up as well, which makes our job easier when we get in there with tractors and stuff."
The fire helped eliminate a generation of cattails next year, allowing staff to work in the area without having to blow the cattail "poof" from equipment radiators several times a day. The absence of the plants will also aid in drying out the ground, which will allow staff to disc the area in an attempt to break up and destroy the root systems.