VIDEO: 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."