Francisco Sánchez Jr., associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the Small Business Administration, today announced the opening of its virtual Business Recovery Center to meet the needs of businesses and individuals who were affected by affected by the Watch Fire that occurred July 10-17.

With forecasted moisture expected to arrive by the weekend ahead, fire managers on the Williams Ranger District are hopeful to burn and consume the woody debris pile at the Moonset Pit green waste disposal site near the community of Parks on Friday October 18.

Over the fall and winter months, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management (DFFM) plans to take advantage of seasonally cooler temperatures to accomplish multiple prescribed fire projects throughout Arizona.

State prescribed fire managers say so far projects are planned for Coconino, Apache, Navajo, Maricopa, and Yavapai Counties.

Project work remains dependent on resource availability and on favorable weather conditions which provide for safe burning efforts and successful project implementation and completion.

The Coconino National Forest plans to conduct the following prescribed burn project, beginning tomorrow for the next two days.

UBC 2 (Upper Beaver Creek) Project

The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team has arrived and will begin to assess the burn severity of the soil. This specialized team evaluates recently burned areas for damage caused by the fire and implements emergency treatments as necessary to protect life, property, and natural resources. Containment increased as the crews strengthened and completed containment lines along the majority of the SR-260 corridor. Significant amounts of repair work have been completed in the northeastern portion of the fire area.