We've seen the roaring flames and the thick black smoke from the Kearny River Fire. But what's burning? Turns out, it's the perfect fuel for wild fires and it's not even supposed to grow here.
It's common name is "Salt Cedar" because of the salt left behind after sucking the ground dry of water. This non-native tree's more scientific name is "Tamerisk". For firefighters it's simply called a problem.
"Salt Cedar is not native to Arizona" says Colin Williams of Rural Metro Fire. The massive trees that can grow higher than 70 feet were first introduced to Arizona by the Army Corps of Engineers. In the 1920's and 30's they brought it from Africa to stabilize the ground and serve as a wind break.
Today, Williams showed us first hand how this invasive species is taking over and how it's become a huge fire danger. "Once these get going, they put off a ton of smoke and are really hard to put out."
Williams also says fires that are fueled by this type of tree creates a different type of fight. "Because they've been introduced here, non-native vegetation, doesn't burn like the Senora desert." said Williams.
As a result, crews need to dump a ton of water on these fires. Once they've beaten back the flames, they continue to chop up the remaining wood, soak it with additional water and hope they got it all.
