What caused the smell of smoke across the Chicago area on Thursday?
Lots of people across the Chicago area complained about smelling smoke in the air on Thursday, and there was a perfectly good explanation.
The strong smell was due in part to prescribed burns happening across the area, with at least 10 burn crews working in the Cook County Forest Preserves.
Flames and plumes of smoke could be seen at several forest preserves on Thursday from prescribed burns lit at the direction of John McCabe, director of the department of resource management at the Forest Preserves of Cook County.
"We're managing fire-dependent habitats here, and so if we're not utilizing fire, these habitats go away, and the plants and animals that call it home would no longer exist," he said.
On Thursday, several communities across Chicago and the suburbs reported the strong odor of smoke, including in Oak Lawn, here firefighters there responded to multiple false alarms because people thought the smoke was coming from inside their building
"When we're burning, especially 10 burn crews across the second most populated county in the United States, people are going smell smoke even when we're doing everything right," McCabe aid.
Cook County Forest Preserve crews typically burn in March and have about a week to complete the job.
Along with the prescribed fires across Cook County, the haze and smoky smell in recent days can also be attributed to wildfire smoke blown into the area from fires in Texas and Oklahoma.
As Cook County crews work to reduce wildfire risks through prescribed burns, on Friday, the dry and windy forecast means grass, leaves, and other fuel sources will be drier and if ignited could burn stronger, according to McCabe.
"Tomorrow, it's like, kicked up 10 notches, where the wind speeds are going to be very high, and the temperatures are going to be very warm, and the relative humidities are going to be very low," he said.
With the conditions as dry as they are expected to be on Friday, no prescribed fires will be burned in Cook County, and residents are being urged to be mindful of fire danger near forest preserves.