The Bighorn Fire backed down into Finger Rock Canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains above homes in the Catalina Foothills north of Tucson in this photo from June last year.

 Kelly Presnell / Arizona Daily Star 2020

The state’s top fire management official is predicting another dangerous season.

John Truett said Monday he anticipates that conditions this year will be no better than last year. And last year close to 980,000 acres burned up in Arizona’s second-worst wildfire year on record.

Time-lapse of the Bighorn Fire, fed by stiff winds, burning timber and under-growth at full tilt in the upper elevations of the Santa Catalina Mountains, just below Mt. Lemmon, northeast of Tucson, on June 17, 2020. Video by Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star tucson.com

“Most of the state is experiencing extreme, exceptional drought,” Truett said. “That leads to an early fire season. We’ve already had several fires that are 500 acres plus.”

All of that leads to the chance of rapid spread across the landscape, he said.

“It’s going to be extremely, dry,” Truett said. “It’s not going to take much to get an ignition source going.”

The lack of current rainfall is only part of the problem. At the higher elevations, the areas with the biggest trees, there is “very little snowpack.”

Also, the continued spread of COVID-19 is a firefighting complication. It means having to maintain certain protocols to ensure that those battling fires remain healthy and don’t spread the disease, he said.

“This COVID is not over by any means,” Truett said. “It’s still going to affect the way we have to handle wildland fires.”

Gov. Doug Ducey touted the expansion of existing programs that use inmates from state prisons to fight fires.

The changes, funded with a $24.5 million appropriation, will have inmates clearing the forests of debris.

Ducey said this not only creates work opportunities for inmates, but also helps provide them with skills they can use to find employment after release.

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