The Coconino National Forest has established this method of notifying you of planned and current fuels treatment activities on the forest. For confirmation or for more information, please visit our "Current Conditions" page of the Coconino National Forest web-site. You may click
this link http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/conditions/current-rx.shtml, or use the "shortcut" to our main page: www.coconinoforest.us
The Coconino County Health Department provides information about smoke concerns and offers suggestions for minimizing smoke impacts to your family and home at the following website http://www.coconino.az.gov/health.aspx?id=6564.
Prescribed burns at Mountainaire and Upper Beaver Creek today
Flagstaff, AZ – The Mountainaire and Upper Beaver Creek prescribed fire projects have been approved by ADEQ for today. Before actually igniting this morning, fire managers are assessing conditions on the ground and will conduct a test burn for each project. If conditions are still ideal, crews will move forward with ignition.
Mountainaire Project -- Conditions seem to finally be ideal for fire crews to proceed with the Mountainaire prescribed fire project today, located southeast of Flagstaff and east of Mountainaire. Fire managers have been watching winds, weather, and fuel moistures closely over the past couple weeks, waiting for conditions that will allow for an efficient burn while minimizing smoke impact to the community. Crews are anticipating burning approximately 1000 acres today. Smoke will disperse to the northeast during the day. Overnight, residual smoke will likely settle around I-17 and Mountainaire, as well as the Heckethorne area off Lake Mary Road.
Upper Beaver Creek Project -- Crews from both the Red Rock and Mogollon Rim Districts are working on the Upper Beaver Creek prescribed fire project again today This is located between Lake Mary Road (FH3) and I-17 near Stoneman Lake. Because of sleet on the ground and colder/shorter days, fire managers are beginning ignition later in the morning (around 10 or 11) and burning smaller blocks at a time. Yesterday crews completed 150 acres of the originally planned 1000. Today crews are planning for 700 acres. Residual smoke stayed in the local area last night with very minimal impact on Verde Valley communities. Similar smoke conditions are expected today and tonight on this project; higher winds are in the forecast for this evening which will help residual smoke continue to disperse, further reducing the chance of smoke impact to Verde communities.
Fire managers work hard to balance the critical need for reducing the risk of severe wildfires with the importance of minimizing smoke impacts to communities. The Coconino National Forest coordinates prescribed fire plans with the partners in the Ponderosa Fire Advisory Council (which includes local fire departments), as well as neighboring forests, to reduce the overall impact of smoke on the communities.
All prescribed fire activity is dependent on personnel availability, weather – including ventilation conditions, and approval from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (www.azdeq.gov).
The public can obtain prescribed fire information via the following:
Prescribed Fire Hotline: 928-226-4607
Coconino National Forest Website: www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino
o Click on the Prescribed Fire Link to the right of the page
Sign-up to receive regular email notifications: http://www.fs.fed.us/news/subscription
o Choose “Southwestern Region”
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CoconinoNF_Fire
Local Ranger Stations: Peaks Ranger District (Flagstaff), 928-526-0866; Red Rock Ranger District (Sedona) 928-203-2900; Mogollon Rim Ranger District (Blue Ridge) 928-477-2255
###
To receive official Forest Service information by e-mail, please subscribe by visiting http://www.fs.fed.us/news/subscription/
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, please visit http://www.fs.fed.us/news/subscription
If you wish to make changes to an existing account, please visit http://www.fs.fed.us/news/changes.shtml
