More than 1,000 acres of the Indiana Dunes National Park will soon be going up in flames during prescribed burns at Indiana's only national park .
The National Park Service says nine prescribed fires planned this fall are expected to torch about 1,100 acres of the 15,000-acre park.
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The agency says the controlled fires promote the park's unique ecosystems that include prairies, marshes and dune-lined beaches by boosting native plants and reducing fire risks.
Each burn will only occur if weather conditions are deemed ideal at the park, which hugs Lake Michigan's southern shoreline about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Chicago.
Porter County residents can sign up with the "Alert Porter County" system to receive a text message, email or voice message alerting them before each burn.