Fire Managers on the Bradshaw Ranger District plan to conduct prescribed fire operations in the Prescott Basin (Senator Highway, Copper Basin, Walker Road, and Deering Park), burning debris piles from hazardous fuels reduction and thinning projects. Ignitions are planned to start on Thursday, March 7, and continue through Sunday, March 31, if conditions remain favorable.
Expect smoke impacts to be light and visible from multiple locations including Prescott, Prescott Valley, 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.
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 prescribed fires are ignited on the Prescott National Forest:
· Facebook https://www.facebook.com/
· 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.
