Ten people wearing yellow jackets and bright red helmets assembled Wednesday in Lacombe and prepared to set fire to the Big Branch National Wildlife Refuge.
It had been about three years since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tended to this particular 211-acre slice of the refuge, and it was time again to eliminate the understory growing in the marsh.
"You might see purple monkeys and white elephants running in the woods," Chris LeRouge, a fire management officer and the day's "burn boss," said as he walked through his safety briefing.
Neil Lalonde, the refuge manager, leaned over, explaining, "He means it's going to get hot."