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Good morning public, media, and partners – The Coconino National Forest is now managing two lightning-caused fires: Horse Tank and Camillo. News release is below and attached.
Brady Smith, Forest Public Affairs Officer is out of the office this week. I will be your contact for these two fires for the next several days.
For all other Coconino NF inquiries, please leave Brady a message or follow the referrals on his voicemail.
I will also continue to be your contact for the Four Forest Restoration Initiative. In fact, these managed fires
are part of 4FRI – remember, 4FRI is an initiative to accelerate all restoration activities within the 2.4 million acres (it’s not just the two Environmental Impact Statements, or just a large Stewardship Contract).
Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions.
U.S. Forest Service
News Release
Media Contact: Brienne Pettit
Coconino NF uses two lightning-caused fires to benefit landscape Flagstaff, Ariz., June 15, 2015, For Immediate Release —
In addition to the
Horse Tank Fire north of Pine
and Strawberry, fire managers on the Coconino National Forest are utilizing a second lightning-caused fire to benefit the landscape: the
Camillo Fire located approximately
20 miles south of Flagstaff near Mormon Lake.
The Horse Tank and Camillo Fires are fulfilling their natural and crucial role in forest health and fuels reduction.
The forest needs frequent, low severity fire to restore wildlife habitat, promote healthy vegetation, reduce fuels and the risk of severe fire, and create safer conditions for residents, visitors, and firefighters.
The fires will increase in size, but not severity. Firefighters will be conducting
burnout operations to manage where and how the fires move through the landscape, maintaining a low to moderate overall severity. In these cases, fire growth is desirable.
Expect smoke to increase; it will be very noticeable yet still much lighter than
that of an uncharacteristically severe fire. Fire managers will closely monitor smoke impacts.
The Horse Tank and Camillo Fires are not prescribed burns. Though the resource benefits will be similar,
these are wildfires that will be used as nature intended. This means they do not have planned “end dates.” Fire managers have carefully determined larger perimeters within which the fires may run their natural course. As long as conditions allow and
objectives are being met, crews will continue actively managing these fires. Ultimately, fire will treat portions of, or all of, the land inside these boundaries
Motorists should
be cautious of fire traffic and smoke on Highway 260, State Route 87, and Lake Mary Road (Forest Highway 3). Smoke may reduce visibility and fire personnel will be working near the roads. No closures to these roads are anticipated, but delays are possible.
HORSE TANK FIRE OVERVIEW Acres Treated:
920 acres (management area is approximately 5,000 acres)
Acres Treated:
40 acres (management area is approximately 54,000 acres)
Find online information for the Horse Tank and Camillo Fires on Inciweb at
www.inciweb.nwcg.gov. Follow the forest on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/coconinonf (@CoconinoNF). Photos will be available
on the forest Flickr site at www.flickr.com/coconinonationalforest.
The public can also call the Coconino National Forest at 928-527-3600 during regular business hours for additional information.
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