FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — If there is a good time to have a fire in the High Country, now would be the time. The pine needles and dead trees that litter the forest floor are still moist from a wet winter and the late-spring weather has been mild with relatively high humidity.
Wildland fire crews took advantage of that to conduct burn operations near Happy Jack, Arizona over the past week. Crews set their own fires near the lightning-caused Wolf Fire, amounting to more than 10,000 acres of burned landscape that burned in a cooler, more natural way than the raging wildfires that have decimated High Country forests in the last 20 years.
The weather has given fire crews and towns a head start on the fire season. They're using that to make forests more fire-proof and less prone to conflagration.
>> Download the 12News app for the latest local breaking news straight to your phone.
“A couple years ago when you had a really dry winter, these types of operations would not be possible,” said Keith Lemcke, a squad leader with the Blue Ridge Hotshots fire crew. “Hopefully we will do more of these to treat the land.”
About 150 firefighters and equipment operators worked on the fires over the past week, burning dead and downed trees and dry vegetation near Clints Well and Highway 87.
Federal and local leaders want to conduct more strategic burns in the Mogollon Rim Ranger District and surrounding areas before the dryer, hotter weather hits this summer.
12 News asked veteran U.S. Forest Service manager True Brown about the 2024 fire outlook. Brown is the acting district ranger in the Mogollon Ranger District.
“We’re looking at about a normal wildfire season, at least right now,” said Brown. “But I can only say the wrong fire at the wrong place and wrong time can be very detrimental.”
The City of Flagstaff is also conducting forest thinning projects and prescribed burns. The city no longer relies solely on the federal government to treat the urban interface.
“Twenty years ago, these fires would have been easier to control,” said Jim McCarthy, Flagstaff city councilman. “Now our city’s voters have actually voted to pay for forest thinning, both on private land and forest service land.”
The city officially declared a climate emergency in 2020 and the U.S. Forest Service is implementing a 10-year wildfire crisis strategy aimed at reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires to towns and infrastructure.
“The changing climate creates more uncertainty in everything we do on the landscape,” Brown said.
Up to Speed
Catch up on the latest news and stories on the 12News YouTube channel. Subscribe today.