Tis the season for prairie burns here, too. Burning prairie as a conservation practice is pretty common and necessary here on the humid edge of the prairie if you want prairie and not forest. Even our woods (native was probably more like a savanna) are fire-adapted. Prairie fires are something to see, but I suppose nothing compared to a fire out west.
I’ve been in small prairie burns with family before, the pyro teenager in me loved being involved, but now that I’m in my 30’s I’m not much of a fan. Back when we first started we would run a tractor with a disc around the area to be burned, but now everything is established and we mow the edges less, keeping everything contained is more of a chore. I hate that. Containing things was much easier to do with freshly turned earth on the edges.
More and more folks are also burning oak-hickory forest for management in Iowa. They are crazy. I’d never want fire to get into the timbers I know around here.