smoke

Next week the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management begins a one-day pile burn operation on State Trust Land in Pinal County in an effort to reduce both fuel loading in the area and wildfire risk.

On Tuesday, January 31, favorable weather conditions allow DFFM to conduct ignitions on the 36-acre, Lost Dutchman RX Burn located approximately four miles northeast of Apache Junction, off State Route 88 and Nodak Road, just south of the Goldfield Ghost Town.

Tonto National Forest fire officials are preparing to burn three piles on the Tonto Basin Ranger District, Monday, Jan. 30, 2023.

Fire specialists plan to move forward with burning three separate slash piles that were cancelled earlier this month. The three sites include: the Indian Point Community Green Waste site, Burnt Corral Campground (FS 49 Road and State Route 88) and the Crabtree Wash Pit near the Apache Lake Marina. Pile burns range from 1 acre to a quarter of an acre in size.

Fire specialists are planning several pile burns on the Tonto Basin Ranger District, Jan. 19, 2023.

Burn operations will occur at the Indian Point Community Green Waste site, as well as one pile burn at Burnt Corral Campground located at Forest Service Road 49 and State Route 88, and one pile at the Crabtree Wash Pit near Apache Lake Marina. Pile burns range from 1 acre to a quarter of an acre in size.

As part of continuing efforts to reduce hazardous fuels and prevent catastrophic wildfires, Kaibab National Forest firefighters are planning to conduct pile burns on about 700 acres near Williams on Friday. These piles are located near Clover Road and along I-40, and weather conditions are expected to result in some smoke impacts on the highway and in town.

Depending on weather conditions, Lake Mead National Recreation Area is planning to burn piles of previously cut vegetation as part of a hazardous fuel reduction measure in two different locations the week of January 16, 2023 in the western Lake Mead area.  

The Flagstaff Ranger District plans to continue three pile burns located approximately 4 to 6 miles north of Flagstaff and just northwest of Mormon Lake, starting Sunday, Dec. 11 or Monday, Dec. 12, depending on weather conditions.

Two pile burns associated with the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project (FWPP) are located north of Flagstaff and consist of woody material left over from mechanical treatments in the FWPP area. Smoke will be visible to those in the Flagstaff area, including Doney Park and motorists along U.S. Highways 180 and 89. West/southwest winds are predicted.

Tonto Basin fire personnel are planning two separate fuel reduction operations, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022.

The two operations include burning community green waste piles near the Punkin Center and burning the 83 pit south of the Tonto Monument. The total burn size of the 83 pit is 2 acres and includes three pit sites and three slash piles.

Fire officials on the Payson Ranger District are preparing for prescribed fire operations to burn debris piles near Christopher Creek Campground beginning Tuesday, Dec. 6-10, 2022. 

The purpose of this 107-acre prescribed fire is to reduce the risk of destructive wildfires to surrounding communities, ranches and critical infrastructure. Additionally, prescribed fires restore natural ecological systems and landscapes, and develop and foster sustainable forest conditions for wildlife habitat and watersheds.

Prescribed fire pile burning will commence across the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest for the remainder of the fall and into the winter season.

Fire Managers on the Chino Valley Ranger District plan to treat 450 acres of grass and range lands north of Williamson Valley (T18N, R5W, Sec 23) with prescribed fire. Ignitions on the Sinks RX will begin today, November 29, 2022, pending favorable weather conditions. This project is part of the Chino Landscape Restoration where fire crews plan to treat a large surface area with broadcast burning, improving wildlife habitat and the resiliency of forest ecosystems.