Hundreds of visitors attended the 20th annual FireFest at Jonathan Dickinson State Park in south Martin County on Oct. 17, where Florida State Parks firefighters conducted prescribed-burn demonstrations near the Elsa Kimbell Environmental Education and Research Center.
The volunteer-run event combined conservation education with family activities, including pumpkin painting, marshmallow roasting and a booth-stamp activity that gave participants additional chances to win prizes.
FireFest focused on the role of managed fire in the park’s natural areas. According to the Friends of Jonathan Dickinson State Park, prescribed burns can help revitalize native plants and benefit wildlife. Animals can evacuate or take refuge during the burns, while fire clears competing vegetation, returns nutrients to the soil and can prompt germination and flowering in fire-adapted plants including wiregrass and longleaf pine.
Visitors also heard from Miranda Cunningham, a Florida State Parks uplands restoration biologist, about the purpose of controlled burns. Firefighters remained on watch during the demonstrations.
