Landscapers To Set Fire To Horner Park — And It's All Good

IRVING PARK — Where there's smoke, there's fire, and where there's fire, there just might be an ecosystem restoration underway.

According to notifications from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, burn season is beginning at Horner Park, where the corps has been overseeing the restoration of a native oak savanna landscape along the riverbank since 2014.

In its "Prescription Burn Plan" for Horner Park, Native Landscape Contractors, which is managing the riverbank plantings for the Corps of Engineers, explained that native trees, flowers and grasses need fire to thrive.

Controlled burning is used to suppress or eliminate invasive species, pests and dead vegetation while at the same time stimulating regeneration among fire-dependent native species.

A number of conditions will affect the specific days on which burns will be conducted. Prior to each burn, signs will be posted at the project site, 2741 W. Montrose Ave., and on Facebook (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District).

Burn season lasts approximately from the beginning of November through the end of April. Anyone who would like to be notified on the day of a burn should contact the Corps of Engineers public affairs office at 312-846-5330 or email hornparkinfo@usace.army.mil.

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