Pile Burning Planned in the Prescott Basin on the Bradshaw RD

Pile Burning Planned in the Prescott Basin on the Bradshaw RD 

PRESCOTT, AZ, March 20, 2023 - 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 tomorrow, 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.