To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

GREENSBORO – Onlookers and those passing by Price Park watched with some level of concern as smoke filled the air across the street from Jefferson Elementary School.

But the flames that raced across the ground of this natural habitat weren't lit by accident. They were part of a prescribed burn by the Piedmont Land Conservancy.

"There are a lot of species that we want that would be here better if fire was here. And there are a lot of species that we don't want that are here now that, with fire, will help us get rid of, and mowing and grazing won't do that," said Ken Bridle, stewardship director for the Piedmont Land Conservancy.

It's rare to see a controlled burn inside the city limits because of smoke pollution and population density. But with the weather and first responders on their side, the burn went as planned, and so did the smoke.

"The smoke went straight up, so all the neighbors won't smell the smoke from today, so the humidity is right, the wind is right, the temperature, it was just perfect," said PLC Executive Director Kevin Redding.

But it's not just the park benefiting from the burn. Students from Jefferson Elementary School had an outdoor classroom to experience the wildlife lesson firsthand.

"Its not something that you hear about a whole lot, so for the kids to be able to see it and to be able to go home and tell their parents and the whole project of what's going on, it’s going to be a really great learning experience for them this year," said fourth grade teacher Kathleen Allen.

But the work doesn't stop with the controlled burn. They'll be back out in early October to plant a mixture of native grass and perennial windflowers that will benefit the local wildlife in the area.

After the grass is planted in the fall, conservationists plan to come back to perform a controlled burn in the same spot once a year for the next two or three years.