Emergency Bulletins
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Posted: 8/17/2017 - 1:51 pmThe Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is issuing an Ozone High Pollution Advisory (HPA) for Maricopa County, effective Friday, August 18, 2017. This HPA is due to ozone levels expected to accumulate enough to exceed the federal health standard for ozone.
People most affected by ozone include children, senior citizens, people who work or exercise outdoors and people with pre-existing respiratory disease. Ozone can irritate the respiratory system, aggravate asthma and reduce the immune system’s ability to fight off respiratory infections. Ozone-related health problems include shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, headaches, nausea, and throat and lung irritation.
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Posted: 8/17/2017 - 11:09 amUnstable conditions caused by heavy rains following the Boundary Fire, which was active through much of June, have necessitated continuing the closure of the burned area on and around Kendrick Mountain on both the Kaibab and Coconino National Forests in order to ensure public safety.
Due to approaching opening dates for several big game hunts in northern Arizona, officials with the U.S. Forest Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department are working jointly to alert the public and hunters of the Boundary Fire Closure that remains in effect in a portion of Game Management Unit 7W.
Weakened timber, debris flows and flooding can be a common occurrence in steep terrain after a...
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Posted: 8/14/2017 - 12:51 pm
The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests’ Lakeside Ranger District plans to burn slash piles on roughly 15 acres of forest land August 14 through August 20, weather permitting. Ignition will take place on Timber Knoll just south of Ojo Bonito Estates. Smoke impact is anticipated along Highway 60 and within the Vernon Community. In the interest of safety, forest visitors are reminded to use caution when traveling in the vicinity of the pile burn as smoke may reduce visibility in the area.
Prescribed burning provides many benefits and is essential to maintaining healthy forest ecosystems. It provides habitat diversity, recycles plant nutrients into the soil and...
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Posted: 8/14/2017 - 12:21 pm
The Frye Fire Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) process has noted several success stories over the last two weeks. The massive wasting of rock and debris seems to have stabilized across most of the burned area. Although the monsoon rains were not present for most of the last week, a storm over Mt Graham deposited nearly an inch of rain Saturday night August 12, 2017. There was very little evidence of additional rock and debris flows on Sunday morning.
Bible Camp Road FSR 508 is one travel way that continues to experience problems. The road was heavily damaged by a severe storm the night of August 10, causing several major road washouts. Road crew personnel will be evaluating these...
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Posted: 8/10/2017 - 5:20 pm
On Monday, August 14, through Friday, August 18, the Forest Service plans to conduct the annual aerial survey for insect and disease outbreaks on the Tonto National Forest. Forest Service airplanes and helicopters regularly fly over private, state, and National Forest System lands at low altitudes to perform a variety of natural resource management missions, including insect and disease surveys, remote sensing to acquire aerial images and data, and firefighting.
Under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety guidelines, members of the public are required to fly drones at or below 400 feet, about the same altitude Forest Service aircraft fly on natural resource management missions. ...