Army veteran Sam Bowen, Mark Twain Veteran Crew captain, participates in a prescribed burn on March 1 at Cannon Range. More than 50 people from fire crews across the country participated in the 4,000-acre burn to benefit the range and prevent a potentially catastrophic wildfire from happening in the future.

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — Fort Leonard Wood held its largest prescribed burn to date March 1 at Cannon Range, where nearly 4,000 acres of land were deliberately set ablaze and managed by wildfire crews from across the country.

According to Kenton Lohraff, Directorate of Public Works Natural Resources Branch chief, a prescribed burn of that magnitude could not have happened without the support of other organizations, such as the U.S. Forest Service and the Nature Conservancy.

“This is a great opportunity for us here today to have a larger burn with so many professional crew members,” he said.

More than 50 people with fire crews from across the country took part in the operation, meant to improve Cannon Range — located in the southwest portion of the installation — and prevent a catastrophic wildfire from taking place in the future, Lohraff said.

“We had some tornados the last few years that built up a heavy fire load, so there are a lot of downed trees that can ignite and cause hazardous conditions if they catch on fire,” Lohraff said.

Jim Cornelius, Mark Twain National Forest fire staff officer, said there is an enormous amount of work and planning that goes into a burn of this size.

“It’s been about two years in the making, when the initial idea was proposed to where we are today,” Cornelius said.

Even with all the planning and preparations involved, it was also nice to get a little help from Mother Nature, Cornelius said.

One of the biggest benefits to having the prescribed burn on March 1 was the north wind forecasted for the day, he said, which would prevent the smoke from reaching Interstate 44, where it could potentially reduce vision and make driving conditions unsafe.

“Another benefit with a north wind in Missouri is that it is usually followed by rain afterward,” Cornelius said. “We will use natural rainfall to help us with putting the fire out.”

Cornelius was excited about a new all-veteran wildfire crew that was participating in the prescribed burn. He said the Mark Twain Veteran Crew was a great opportunity to give military veterans interested in a career in wildland fire the experience they needed to work for the forest service.

Army veteran Sam Bowen, crew captain of the Mark Twain Veteran Crew, said making the transition from serving in the military to working on a wildfire crew was “smooth.”

“A lot of the ops tempo, chain of command, the way we do things on a fire, is really similar to the way we do things in the military,” he said. “The team is doing great. They are having a lot of fun and getting a lot of good learning experiences out here.”