Navajo County Emergency Management & Preparedness issued the following announcement on Oct. 16.
The Lakeside Ranger District of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests will be burning slash piles from October 18 – October 20, if conditions allow. The ignition area is on Forest Road 45/ County Road 3144 and Forest Road 44. Piles will be burned across roughly 30 acres of forest land.
Ignition is planned for one day only and possible smoke impact is anticipated along Forest Road 45/ County Road 3144, Forest Road 44, and lite impacts to the community of Vernon. In the interest of safety, forest visitors are reminded to obey all traffic signs and use caution when traveling in the vicinity of the prescribed fire burn units as firefighters and fire-related traffic may be in the area.
Prescribed burning provides many benefits and is essential to maintaining healthy forest ecosystems. It provides habitat diversity, recycles plant nutrients into the soil and encourages new growth for a variety of plants used by wildlife and livestock. Prescribed burning of forest ground fuels also reduces the threat of large-scale wildfire impacts to private lands. Crews will be on scene from ignition until there is no longer a threat of escape from the project boundaries. Prescribed fire operations are subject to cancelation due to unfavorable weather conditions or other unforeseen circumstance.
Questions or concerns contact the Lakeside Ranger District at (928) 368-2100 or visit the ASNFs website at: www.fs.usda.gov/asnf.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up