A one-day pile burn project will take place Tuesday at Lost Dutchman State Park, northeast of Apache Junction.
Ignitions are expected to last a few hours and smoke from the project will be visible to park guests, drivers on State Route 88 and some Apache Junction residents.
The project is part of an annual collaborative between the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management and state parks and trails to reduce the risk of wildfires.
According to the U.S. Agriculture Department, pile burning is a prescribed fire where firefighters burn debris left after fuel reduction projects, which typically involve the thinning or cutting of trees.
Piles are only ignited in ideal conditions: which includes favorable smoke dispersal and snow that helps contain the piles.
Lost Dutchman State Park will remain open.
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Arizona Public Service has nearly 40 active AI smoke-detection cameras and plans to have 71 by summer's end, and the state’s fire agency has deployed seven of its own. -
Smoke from the fire near Buckeye has blown into the rest of the Valley since it started burning Saturday. -
Kathleen Muldoon is a professor at an Arizona medical school who lives in north Peoria not too far from where the Hazen wildfire is burning. And she has Valley fever. -
The fire is generating a lot of fine particulate matter which could worsen health outcomes for people with respiratory issues. -
The Hazen Fire is burning about a mile south of Buckeye residential areas and is bordering State Route 85. As of Tuesday afternoon it stood at 1049 acres and reached 10% containment overnight.
