Prescott, AZ, Fire managers on the Bradshaw Ranger District plan to take advantage of the moisture received and predicted to burn debris piles in the Prescott Basin. Ignitions are planned to start Tuesday, March 21, 2023, and continue through Friday, March 31, 2023, as favorable weather conditions allow. Fire managers expect smoke impacts to be light and visible from multiple locations including Prescott, Williamson Valley, Chino Valley, and surrounding areas. Pile burning helps to reduce hazardous fuels in the wildland urban interface and increases ecosystem and community resilience.

In the interest of safety, forest visitors are reminded to obey all traffic signs and use caution when traveling in the vicinity of prescribed burns as firefighters and fire-related traffic will be in the area.

The purpose of this project is to reduce hazardous fuels following thinning and fuelwood removal. Reducing hazardous fuels will help reduce the threat of high-severity, high-intensity wildfire to the public, adjacent private property, and communities. Burning of debris left over from brush crush and thinning projects requires moisture in the surrounding vegetation and typically produces much lighter smoke than broadcast burning.

All prescribed fire activity is dependent on the availability of personnel and equipment, weather, fuels, conditions that minimize smoke impacts as much as possible, and approval from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (www.azdeq.gov).

Messages will be posted on social media when managed fires are ignited on the Prescott National Forest:

 -  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PrescottNF/

 -  Twitter https://twitter.com/PrescottNF

For fire information please call (928) 925-1111; or stay up to date on Prescott National Forest news by checking the Prescott NF website and following us on Facebook and Twitter.