Flames swept through dense stands of dried cattails behind the Westerville Community Center Thursday as fire crews conducted a controlled burn to clear invasive vegetation from a small wetland along Alkyre Run.
The burn followed several weeks of herbicide treatments intended to kill the cattails that had overtaken much of the wetland. With the plants dead and dry, crews used drip torches to ignite the vegetation, clearing accumulated debris to allow natural growth to return.
Fire crews began cautiously, setting small test fires to gauge how quickly the flames would spread and in which direction. Once they determined the fire’s behavior, crews ignited a series of backfires to keep the burn contained within the stands of dried cattails. Firefighters worked along the edges of the burning area, while another crew member on a water-tank-equipped ATV sprayed the perimeter to keep flames from spreading into surrounding vegetation and damaging trees along Alkyre Run.
Along the wetland's edge, fall-blooming wildflowers added splashes of color just a short distance from the flames. The flowers were part of a wildflower seed mix planted in sections of the property that had already been cleared of invasive trees, including Callery pears.
Firefighters in protective gear moved through the wetland as flames consumed the dried vegetation. Smoke rose above the cattails and drifted through the surrounding trees as the fire advanced across the densely overgrown area.
The dense stands of invasive cattails required a different approach from the tree clearing and wildflower planting elsewhere on the property. Herbicide treatments killed the cattails, and the controlled burn removed their dead stalks and accumulated material, making room for natural vegetation to return.
Clearing that debris exposes the ground to sunlight and creates space for other vegetation to establish. The work is intended to encourage a more diverse plant community in an area previously dominated by cattails.
That transformation is already visible elsewhere on the property, where removing invasive trees opened the landscape for wildflower plantings. Fall-blooming varieties from the seed mix now add splashes of color along the wetland’s edge, replacing dense growth with a more open, varied landscape.
The wetland lies within the lower reaches of Alkyre Run, a small stream that begins in former farmland northeast of the property and flows through Westar Park, the city’s recently completed business development project.
From there, the creek continues through the wetland behind the Community Center and then flows toward Alum Creek, several hundred feet downstream. Alum Creek supplies drinking water to Westerville.
The city’s restoration ends just before a small section of the creek on Otterbein University property. The university uses an adjacent open field as part of its cross-country course. A stand of cattails remains on Otterbein property, outside the city’s current restoration project.
In the city-managed wetland, the controlled burn leaves an open, blackened landscape where dense cattails once grew.
Nearby, wildflowers blooming in areas cleared earlier this year offer a glimpse of the vegetation returning as the restoration continues.
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