This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.

With winter settling in around the state and snow on the ground in some places, fire managers are starting to pile burn in an effort to reduce wildfire risk in the future.

Crews first gather dead wood and brush from the forest floor and thin out lower-down tree limbs in a process called fuel reduction. After those piles have fully dried out, they are then burned when weather conditions help limit the chance that the blaze will spread.

In a nutshell, smaller controlled burns in the colder and snowier months mean less likelihood of an out of control fire in the hotter and drier months.

Teton Interagency Fire crews are starting prescribed burns in Grand Teton National Park that could continue for the next couple months. The burns will take place near the Bar BC Ranch, Colter Bay, Elk Ranch Flats, Beaver Creek and Grassy Island.

Smoke may be visible from the piles when they’re lit and could linger for a few days. If smoke lingers, signs will be posted along roadsides to remind drivers to use headlights for safer travel. Fire staff will be monitoring the piles to make sure they burn all the way through and don’t spread.

The locations of the prescribed burns aren’t too far from where the Fish Creek Fire and Pack Trail Fire burned nearly 100,000 acres in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Bridger-Teton National Forest crews also burned piles on Teton Pass and near La Barge and Pinedale earlier this month.