The U.S. Forest Service announced the first of several planned December slash pile burns will take place Dec. 2-5 in Silverthorne and Breckenridge.

A Forest Service news release listed Ruby Ranch in Silverthorne and Ski Hill Road and Barton Road in Breckenridge as pile burn locations, although it stated more locations could be added with 24-hour notice. The town of Breckenridge stated in a news release that its pile burns will be in the Shock Hill Open Space near Airport Road and will likely start Dec. 3 around noon.

Fire management personnel will also burn piles near Frisco in the area of the North Tenmile Trailhead this week, according to a Summit Fire & EMS news release. Those ignitions will start around 9:30 a.m., according to the release.

The Forest Service release stated ignitions will start around 10:30 a.m., and smoke and flames will be visible from Interstate 70, Colorado Highway 9, Breckenridge, Silverthorne, Dillon, Frisco and other surrounding areas.

Piles will burn and smolder unattended overnight, although fire management personnel will patrol ignition areas the day of the operation to monitor potential smoke impacts and fuel consumption and periodically monitor them for several days until piles are out. Slash pile burns get rid of fuels that were cut down during hazard tree and wildfire hazard fuels reduction efforts, the Forest Service release stated.

Residents can sign up for alerts related to prescribed burns at SCAlert.org.