Hobbs predicts 'intense' wildfire season for Arizona

PHOENIX — Arizona faces what Gov. Katie Hobbs on Monday called an “intense’’ fire season fueled by an unusually dry winter.

And John Truett, the state’s fire management officer, said the proof is what already is happening.

Truett pointed out that 18 separate fires were set just this past week along a 20 mile stretch of Arizona 79 north of Oracle Junction. And the cause, he said, appears to have been someone who was towing a trailer but who let the chains dangling from the hitch drag along the ground and create sparks.

“So that tells us that the probability of ignition is way up,’’ Truett said.

With the brush and grasses as dry as they are — and this early in the season — the governor said that makes it all the more important for individuals to recognize their role in preventing wildfires.

“Most fires are human caused, not maliciously,’’ the governor said.

It’s not just chains that can cause fires.

There’s the fact that catalytic converters on cars can get extremely hot, with operating temperatures that exceed 500 degrees. And that means a vehicle that drives onto grasses can easily start a blaze.

Truett said keeping the number of fires under control this year will involve public education.

One thing that Truett said has been on his mind are the devastating wildfires that erupted earlier this year in California that destroyed more than 11,000 homes. He said while conditions are different there — those blazes were driven by strong seasonal winds — there is the potential for similar conditions here.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

“We have that vegetation growing very close to the outside of the communities,’’ Truett said. And then there is the prevalence of tract homes in developments, close to each other.

“Once it gets established in those rows of homes and you’re driving it with the wind, that becomes the fuel driver,’’ he said. “It’s no longer the vegetation. It’s the homes.’’

Truett said his agency is not simply waiting around for the next fire to fight.

“We have our wildfire mitigation plan,’’ he said.

“What that plan is is to go out and look at potential high-risk areas and go out and do what we call a fuel reduction,’’ he explained, removing some of the dried and flammable materials so that if a blaze does erupt it will be easier to manage — and may avoid homes in the community.

What that means, Truett said, is “trying to get the forest and the vegetation back to its natural fire regime.’’

“Right now, it’s overstocked,’’ he said.

Hobbs said about 23,000 acres of land at risk for wildfires has been “treated’’ since last July. That includes removing dry grasses and other fuels. The state expects to get that figure to 30,000 by the end of June.

One bit of good news for Arizona is in the form of money from Washington, particularly with the Trump administration rescinding various grants. But Tom Torres, the state forester, said that, to date, the feds have not asked for any of their money back.

He also said that the agency now is nearly staffed for the upcoming fire season.

Still, Arizona officials are concerns about protecting the home front.

“National resources are at a draw down right now,’’ Torres said, what with blazes elsewhere.

“So we have to be very cautious on how we’re going to aid our partners out west,’’ he continued. “We need to maintain our staffing here at home.’’