For travelers camping over the holiday weekend, the National Weather Servicepredicted strong winds would die down, allowing for red flag warnings across much of the state to be lifted.
Two of the state’s six national forests - the Coronado and the Tonto - issued stage one fire restrictions meaning no campfires nor smoking outside a car or building.
For the rest, remember that humans are the leading cause of wildfires.
“Never leave a campfire unattended,” said Kaibab National Forest spokeswoman Jackie Banks. “If you are leaving a campsite or even going away for an hour through the forest, you need to put that campfire out. And it needs to be cold to the touch. That campfire needs to be dead out."
That means bringing a shovel and enough water to put that fire out.
Prescott National Forest officials plan to restrict campfires come June 1. Other forests will likely follow suit as they dry out and heat up.
