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This fire season, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management deploys a modern wildland firefighter accountability and response system to better equip the agency’s firefighters while out in the field, with the goal of keeping them safe. Over the next few months, six of DFFM’s 13 wildland fire hand crews will carry and test new field support and safety devices called DropBlocks, or GPS tracking and locating systems. More often than not, crews work in very remote areas with limited to no cell phone service so these tracking systems provide another layer of communication and accountability.
Starting next week, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management begins a week-long prescribed fire project in Coconino County. The 750-acre Observatory RX Burn is located five miles west of Flagstaff, west of the Naval Observatory, and directly south of Interstate 40. The project incorporates State Trust Land and Flagstaff-area Wildland Urban Interface and provides for wildfire risk reduction and benefits forest health.
The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management plans to begin the Woodlands Ranch RX Burn the week of May 1, as the forecast calls for more conducive weather conditions. The 1,500-acre project is located approximately eight miles north of State Route 64 and US 180, also known as the Valle/Grand Canyon Junction, and 13 miles south of Tusayan.
Upcoming favorable weather allows the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management to begin ignitions on a multi-day prescribed burn project nine miles southeast of Sonoita in Santa Cruz County.The Babacomari Ranch RX Burn starts Tuesday, April 25, through Thursday, April 27, and is weather dependent. Firing operations are planned daily starting in the late afternoon or evening hours. The later ignitions are due to a multitude of reasons, including predicted low relative humidities, more ideal and safer weather conditions, and better predictable winds. The project will be highly visible to the communities of Sonoita, Elgin, Huachuca City, and Sierra Vista. Burn managers expect smoke to settle into the lower elevations throughout the night.
The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management proudly announces a multi-million dollar investment into the state of Arizona and the agency’s Urban and Community Forestry program through the Investing in America Agenda under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
