FREDONIA — Pending favorable conditions, North Zone fire managers on the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest are planning to begin a prescribed fire within the 1,806-acre Jacob Ryan North “Bridge” Unit as early as Tuesday, May 24.
Once ignitions commence, fire managers expect the prescribed fire treatment to last three to four days.
As one of the most effective tools available to resource managers for restoring fire-adapted ecosystems, prescribed fires are used to reduce forest fuels, recycle nutrients and increase habitat diversity by removing dead forest fuels.
“In addition to providing community protection and promoting forest health, this prescribed fire operation will be conducted with firefighter and public safety as our number one priority,” said North Kaibab District Ranger Randall Walker. “The tradeoff is that we are on the cusp of tourist season and smoke is to be expected. Conducting a prescribed burn with no smoke is not really very realistic. However, to mitigate the impact, we burn when conditions are such that the smoke will disperse away from populated areas as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
Smoke sensitive individuals and people with respiratory problems are encouraged to take precautionary measures as fire managers do anticipate smoke to minimally impact visitors in the vicinity of Jacob Lake, on Highways 67 and 89A, as well as hikers on a portion of the Arizona Trail (AZT) that passes through the unit for short periods of time during the prescribed fire operations.
To aid hikers on the impacted portion of the AZT, fire managers will post firefighters at the east and west ends of the unit where the trail and the prescribed burn area intersect in order to escort hikers through as necessary. No road or trail closures are expected. However, visitors are reminded to use caution when traveling along Highways 67 and 89A, and be aware of emergency vehicles in the area.
“The fuel samples we collected last week indicate that the conditions for this prescribed burn are within the optimal range to meet our objectives,” said North Zone Fuels Specialist Dave Robinson. “We’re right in the heart of perfect conditions for this prescription.”
The boundaries for this prescribed fire are Forest Service Road 247 on the north and west, FSR 487 to FSR 257 south to Highway 89A to FSR 247 on the south, and a series of dozer lines and connecting forest roads on the east.
All prescribed burning on the Kaibab National Forest is subject to approval by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and appropriate weather conditions. For additional information on the Smoke Management Division of the ADEQ and to view prescribed burns authorized on any given day, please visit http://www.azdeq.gov/environ/air/smoke/index.html.
Information on current Kaibab National Forest wildfires and notifications of upcoming prescribed burns are provided through the following methods:
Fire Information Recorded Hotline: 928-635-8311
Twitter: www.twitter.com/KaibabNF (Text ‘follow kaibabnf’ to 40404 to receive text messages)
Kaibab website “News & Events”: www.fs.usda.gov/kaibab
WildfiresNearMe: A new subscription, web-based application tool that provides the public with real-time text and email notification about wildfires that break out in their area. Users can follow any fire that has started within their area of interest. For more information, visit http://wildfiresnearme.wfmrda.com/.