WILLIAMS – Fuels reduction efforts on the Williams Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest will begin on Friday of this week and continue into next week as weather conditions permit. Machine piles on two separate timber sale units on the district have been evaluated and are suitable for ignition at this time.
383 acres of piles in the Wright Timber Sale area located north of Parks on the south side of Government Hill will be ignited Friday, and an additional 200 acres will begin on Monday of next week on the Shiner Timber Sale project located just southwest of Dogtown Lake along forest road 140.
Fuels specialists will continue to assess conditions in the weeks ahead and plan to continue implementing prescribed fire activities as opportunities arise.
Crews will use tactics to minimize smoke production and reduce the potential for impacts to the surrounding roadways and adjacent communities.
During ignition operations, smoke will be visible from areas surrounding these units but is expected to be light in volume and short in duration.
These pile burns are just a couple of many ongoing forest restoration projects happening that are critical to improving forest health and increasing vital protection of forest resources and community values.
As with all prescribed burns, weather conditions will determine the day’s most suitable for ignitions that have the least amount of negative effects on air quality and the best possible ventilation.
The public can view approved prescribed fires for any given day on the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s website at smoke.azdeq.gov/.
To learn more about smoke and public health, visit bit.ly/SmokeHealthAwareness.
Notifications of upcoming prescribed fire projects are provided regularly throughout the year. Additional information can also be obtained through the following sources:
· Kaibab National Forest Website: www.fs.usda.gov/kaibab
· Twitter: www.twitter.com/KaibabNF
· Facebook: www.facebook.com/KaibabNF
· Fire Information Recorded Hotline: 928-635-8311
· InciWeb: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5922/