Prescribed Fire

Coconino County Public Works, in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service, has ignited the annual green waste burn at the Willard Springs Transfer Station. The burn is located 17 miles south of Flagstaff on the west side of I-17.

The annual green waste burn reduces the existing stockpile of pine needles, tree trimmings and other green waste at the transfer station prior to the 2020 fire season. The burn is expected to smolder until mid-spring and will be monitored by the Mormon Lake Ranger Station, Pinewood Fire Department and the Coconino County Public Works Solid Waste Division.

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:

Coconino National Forest firefighters plan to conduct prescribed burns next week in several areas that have been previously postponed due to earlier conditions that would have heavily impacted communities with smoke.
 

Coconino National Forest firefighters plan to conduct prescribed burns next week in areas that will lessen smoke impacts to surrounding communities.
 
These burns are among the prescribed burn projects planned for the Flagstaff Ranger District and the Mogollon Rim Ranger District this fall and are part of a strategy to allow fire across the landscape in order to restore forests to healthier conditions, protect watersheds and improve the safety of the communities around them.

Ignitions are complete on the Moquitch-3 (Phase 2) prescribed fire project at the North Kaibab Ranger District on the Kaibab National Forest. Fire managers have reported a total of 1,436 acres treated over the past two days.

Tomorrow crews will conduct “hold & patrol" operations, which basically translates to monitoring fire behavior, monitoring smoke, and ensuring the fire stays within the designated containment lines. There are no active firing operations planned for tomorrow due to forecasted high wind activity.

Additional details are as follows:

Grand Canyon National Park fire managers will initiate a prescribed fire treatment today, as weather and fuel moisture conditions allow. The Long Jim Prescribed Fire is adjacent to the developed area on the South Rim, east of South Entrance Road and south of Highway 64 (Desert View Drive) East. 

Kaibab National Forest fire officials are alerting the public that recent prescribed fire activities may be visible at several locations across the Williams and Tusayan Ranger Districts over the next several days and could possibly linger into the approaching Christmas holiday.

Fire managers at Saguaro National Park plan to conduct a prescribed burn on Mica Mountain in the Saguaro Wilderness of the Rincon Mountain District (Saguaro East) this fall when conditions are favorable. The prescribed burn is currently planned for mid-late October.