Pile Burning Planned August 14 - August 31, 2024 in the Prescott Basin
Fire managers on the Bradshaw Ranger District plan to take advantage of the moisture received as they look to burn debris piles in and around the Prescott Basin near Aspen Creek, Butte Creek and Ponderosa Park.
Ignitions are planned to start Wednesday, August 14, 2024, and continue through Saturday, August 31, 2024, as conditions allow. Fire managers expect smoke impacts to be light and visible from multiple locations including Prescott, Chino Valley, and surrounding areas. As nighttime temperatures cool, smoke may linger in drainages and valleys.
In the interest of safety, forest visitors are reminded to obey all traffic signs and use caution when traveling in the vicinity of prescribed burns as firefighters and fire-related traffic will be in the area.
The purpose of this project is to reduce hazardous fuels following thinning and fuelwood removal. Reducing hazardous fuels will help reduce the threat of high-severity, high-intensity wildfire to the public, adjacent private property, and communities. Burning debri left over from brush crush and thinning projects requires moisture in the surrounding vegetation and typically produces much lighter smoke than broadcast burning.
Prescott National Forest’s land management strategy is centered on long-term forest health and includes reducing forest fuels and using prescribed fire on the landscape. Reducing hazardous fuels will help reduce the threat of high-severity, high-intensity wildfire to the public, adjacent private property, and communities.
The project also furthers the goals of the Forest Service’s national Wildfire Crisis Strategy to restore forests so they are less vulnerable to extreme wildfires that can risk lives and property; and impact watersheds and wildlife habitat.
All prescribed fire activity is dependent on the availability of personnel and equipment, weather, fuels, conditions that minimize smoke impacts as much as possible, and approval from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (www.azdeq.gov).
Messages will be posted on social media when managed fires are ignited on the Prescott National Forest:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PrescottNF/
Twitter https://twitter.com/PrescottNF
For fire information please call (928) 925-1111; or stay up to date on Prescott National Forest news by checking the Prescott NF website and following us on Facebook and Twitter.
