Throughout northern Arizona fire managers are taking advantage of unusually wet spring conditions by using fire to enhance forest health. They’re employing some of these methods on the Volunteer Fire west of Flagstaff on the Coconino National Forest.
On Friday crews were setting back-burns within the fire perimeter south of Garland Prairie. It’s an area that hasn’t burned in nearly a hundred years and is dense with downed logs, grasses and pine needles. Managers hope to reduce those fuels and provide a fire buffer for nearby communities and the adjacent Camp Navajo Army National Guard base. They’re also attempting to improve habitat for the threatened Mexican spotted owl on the nearby Mooney Mountain.
"For us, this year, considering the moisture we’ve gotten, we have a great opportunity to treat the landscape and achieve some of the goals that we’ve been trying to achieve that we haven’t been able to through COVID, through some of our drier years," said Mormon Lake Hotshots Superintendent Sara Sweeney, who was the incident commander for the wildfire.
The Volunteer Fire was initially reported as just a single acre two weeks ago within the scar of the 2021 Rafael Fire. But following the burn-out operations, it’s grown much larger though managers intend to keep it within a broader 3,580-acre footprint. In the coming days they plan to ignite another 1,800 acres, which will likely produce smoke that’ll impact Flagstaff. It’s among several prescribed and managed wildfires currently taking place in the region.
