Mount Wilson-area residents need not be alarmed about the safety of wood chips being stored temporarily at a nearby abandoned airstrip, a BLM employee said Thursday.

“We’ve received several phone calls from people claiming to have seen smoke rising from the pile of chips,” said Shane DeForest, a supervisory natural resource specialist with the BLM Ely Field Office.

“But what they’re seeing is steam – not smoke. On behalf of the BLM, I can assure the public that the chips are not at risk of spontaneous combustion,” he explained.

DeForest said the pile of chips – amounting to about 7,300 tons – is the result of a fire hazard reduction project that the BLM completed in the Mount Wilson area earlier this year. The project, which involved the selective thinning of pinyon and juniper trees, will help to protect the lives and property of Mount Wilson residents, he said.

DeForest said the chips are slated to be sold in the future, as biomass. In the meantime, he said, they are being made available to the public, free-of-charge, for use in landscaping or weed control.

“The chips range in size from small twigs to about the size of your hand,” said DeForest. “They can be used for just about anything, including bedding for a kennel or to fill-in driveways and walkways.”

DeForest cautioned would-be chip collectors about smoking near the pile.

“Again, the pile is not at risk of spontaneous combustion, but it could catch fire as a result of a spark or open flame,” he said.