Yearly prescribed burns are helpful for the forest service as they prepare to combat the Arizona wildfire season. But, the recent dry weather has forced the treatment at Tonto National Forest to stop.
Tonto National Park spokesperson Carrie Templin said February was one of the warmest and driest months on record. And as heat and lack of rain or snow persist, the prescribed burns are stalled.
“There’s not enough moisture in what we’re trying to burn. There’s not enough moisture in the ground. And temperatures and wind were just not cooperating with us,” she said.
Templin said similar burn treatments can go into early April. But the recent project was too dangerous to continue.
“When you get temperatures too high, you get fuels that are too dry and we start picking up sparks and things start trying to climb into the trees. And that is not what we wanted,” she said.
Fire specialists were able to burn over 10,000 acres before the halt. But, until weather conditions improve, Templin said the project will remain on hold.
