Kaibab National Forest

Pile burning activity is occurring at multiple locations to the south and east of the City of Williams producing smoke that will be visible from various outlying locations around the greater Williams area. Burning is expected to continue through the remainder of this week as conditions allow.

Fire crews on the Williams Ranger District on the Kaibab National Forest will be igniting about 150 acres of hand piles beginning Monday morning of this week along forest roads 111 and 122 about 5 miles south of Williams.  Operations could continue for up to three days providing conditions remain favorable for meeting fuels reduction objectives.

Fire crews on the Williams Ranger District on the Kaibab National Forest will begin igniting large machine piles of slash on Wednesday morning of this week near Garland Prairie about 5 miles south of Interstate 40. The 550 acre "Isham" unit is specifically located north and east of the junction at forest roads 109 & 141 along the southwest side of Scholz Lake.

Recent wet weather has created potentially hazardous driving conditions on many Kaibab National Forest roads, and motorists are urged to plan ahead and exercise caution when visiting.

While Kaibab National Forest roads remain open, motorists should be aware that they could encounter a range of conditions and should prepare accordingly. On the Williams and Tusayan districts of the forest south of the Grand Canyon, rain received yesterday on top of already melting snow from last week's storm has caused roads to become slushy, icy, and, in some cases, temporarily impassable.

Recent wet weather has presented favorable opportunities for fire crews to burn piles on the Williams Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest. Fire personnel plan to begin work today in the Hardy project area, which is located about 10 miles northeast of the City of Williams.
 

Due to recent precipitation received on the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest, fire managers plan to conduct pile burning beginning today and continuing through the middle of next week.

The piles are the result of forest restoration projects, and the purpose of burning them is to reduce forest fuels that could contribute to high-intensity wildfires. Fire managers will continue to seek opportunities throughout the winter to conduct pile burns. Areas to be treated when conditions are favorable are as follows:

With the arrival of significant precipitation to the Kaibab Plateau, fire managers on the North Kaibab Ranger District of Kaibab National Forest plan to conduct pile burn operations starting tomorrow and continuing periodically throughout the winter as conditions and staffing allow. The piles are the result of mechanical thinning projects designed to help forest restoration efforts, and the goal of burning them is to further reduce fuels that could feed high-intensity wildfire.

Kaibab National Forest fire managers will be continuing treatments on the Russell Prescribed Fire Project located on the Tusayan Ranger District approximately 18 miles southeast of the town of Tusayan beginning Tuesday. A 700 acre unit will be the first of several blocks to be ignited within the 2130 acre project area in the days ahead providing forest and weather conditions remain favorable to meet land management objectives.