Controlled fire at Newport Chemical

VERMILLION COUNTY, Ind (WTHI) - Friday afternoon local firefighters conducted a controlled burn inside the gates of the Newport Chemical Depot in Vermillion County.

Firefighters burned more than 100 acres of native prairie grass, which actually helps the grass thrive.

The depot has been planting and maintaining prairie grass for the past 15 years.

"We use fire to reduce the thatch layer in the grass and to set back the woody vegetation to maintain it in the grassland area for pheasants, quail and rabbits," Drew Daily with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said.

The chemical agent stockpile was completely destroyed last August.

Workers at the depot are now preparing to transition and will ultimately close the depot.