The wildfire season in Southeastern Arizona is off to a fast start, and mid-elevation areas in mountain ranges face a higher fire risk because rain-nurtured grasses have dried and become extremely flammable, the U.S. Forest Service and other land agencies warned this week.
“We’ve already had 16 fires this year — (burning) over 10,000 acres,” said Heidi Schewel, spokeswoman for the Forest Service. “Some mid-elevations have waist-high grasses. There are continuous fuel beds with no breaks.
“The higher elevations still have some residual snowpack” — reducing the immediate danger of fires there, Schewel said.
Michelle Fidler, fire communication and education specialist for the National Park Service, said weather and fuel conditions have resulted in an “above average (fire) potential for Southeastern Arizona.”
The area’s location and arid environment mean that fires typically occur earlier in the year here than in states to the north, said Mary Zabinski, of the Southwest Coordination Center for wildfire matters.
“In the West, we’re the leadoff hitter” for the fire season, she said.
Drone concerns
The increasing popularity of drones prompted the officials to issue a strong warning to the general public about the danger of flying drones in an area where aircraft are involved in firefighting.
“If there’s a drone flying in the area of a wildfire, we will ground our aircraft,” Schewel said.
