Coconino National Forest officials are concerned about what they say was a higher than usual number of abandoned campfires in the forest over the Labor Day weekend. Fire staff officer Don Musie says workers discovered 42 fires that had been left burning, or were not completely extinguished. That's about three times the normal number of abandoned fires.
“It is very green and lush as a result of the fairly robust monsoons we’ve had so people may ah, just feel like there’s not a threat,” Musie said.
Musie says none of the abandoned fires triggered a wildfire, but that in the wake of the human-caused Slide Fire, which scarred thousands of acres in Oak Creek Canyon, the number of abandoned campfires this weekend was surprising.