Bedford County residents may notice increased smoke in the area this week as firefighters conduct backburning operations on the east and west sides of the Bald Mountain Wildfire in Craig and Botetourt counties.

The Bedford 911 Communications Center has been receiving an increasing number of "smoke investigation" calls from residents. Please help us keep emergency lines open by sharing this information and reserving 911 calls for true emergencies.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, on Tuesday, Nov. 11, firefighters reinforced containment lines and conducted the backburning operation. Backburning is a firefighting technique where fire crews burn the fuel between the fire’s perimeter and the containment lines so that the wildfire is no longer able to spread.