If you're vacation plans include camping in the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach areas be on the lookout for fires. But don't worry, they should be under control.
A series of prescribed burns at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores will begin this month and continue into the spring, according the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' State Parks Division.
These burns will help further reduce the fuel loads in the aftermath of Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina.
Controlled burns within the campground and surrounding corridors in 2005 eliminated some heavy fuel loads, but the present fuel load remains high.
Parks officials said the burning program creates a safer environment from future wildfires within the park and in the outlying communities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.