Fire Restrictions Lifted At Five Arizona National Forests This Week
A series of strong rain storms has prompted officials to lift fire restrictions in five Arizona National Forests, but the active monsoon season does not mean the fire danger is completely over. Fire restrictions will be lifted Wednesday in the Coconino, Kaibab, Prescott and Tonto National Forests in central and northern Arizona, and restrictions will be lifted on Friday in the Coronado National forest in the southeastern part of the state.
Kaibab National Forest spokeswoman Jackie Banks said the restrictions were needed to prevent human-caused fires that typically happen in the drier months of May and June, but the late summer weather is a different story.
“Once we get into the onset of the monsoons we typically have lightning-started fires, and those typically hit a tree and then start a small fire near them, but thankfully with the amount of precipitation we’ve had none of those fires have spread very far at all,” said Banks.
She said officials are concerned about the possibility of flooding at the scene of the Yarnell Hill and Doce fires near Prescott and at the Mt. Lemmon wildfire near Tucson where four inches of rain were recorded in a 24 hour period on Monday.
