The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management is warning that the wildfire that closed parts of Interstate 17 north of Phoenix over the weekend is just the beginning of a very active season.
The human-caused Stage Fire burning near New River grew to 249 acres on Saturday. The Department of Forestry said the blaze was 90% contained by Sunday.
A little aviation action on the #StageFire. Multiple aircraft assisted ground crews to help slow the spread of the fire. Once again, another human-caused fire. Please use caution when recreating or working outdoors. Don't be careless. Stay alert and be safe #AZFire #AZForestry pic.twitter.com/pwYBNzRSVQ
— AZ Dept. Forestry and Fire Management (@azstateforestry) May 3, 2020
Spokesperson Tiffany Davila says people need to take extra care because Arizona’s early heat wave is only making matters worse.
“Temperatures are heating up a little bit earlier than what we’re used to seeing at this time of the year. We had this fire, human-caused fire, we had multiple fires before this one started on Saturday, human-caused fires,” Davila said.
Davila says the central region of the state, all the way down to the Sonoran Desert into southern Arizona is at risk.
