Houses will burn – on purpose – in Matthews

No need to panic if you see smoke rising from homes in the area of Fullwood Road, Marion Drive and Plantation Estates Drive in Matthews on Saturday.

Starting at about 9 a.m., the Matthews Fire Department will conduct controlled burns of houses that are scheduled to be torn down for new construction, Matthews police officer Tim Aycock said.

The burns are for training purposes and are expected to last most of the day, Aycock said.

The same training will take place in the same area July 18 and July 25.

Anyone with questions about the training can call Lt. Chris Mollema of the Matthews Fire Department at 704-708-1201.

This story was originally published July 10, 2015 at 10:16 AM with the headline "Houses will burn – on purpose – in Matthews."