Fire Restrictions Lifted on the Prescott National Forest and the Tonto National Forest

Courtesy of the Prescott National Forest

PRESCOTT, AZ (July 10, 2014) – Fire restrictions will be lifted on the Prescott National Forest Friday, July 11at 8:00 a.m.  Recent precipitation and higher humidity has lowered fire danger on the forest decreasing the risk wildfires.

Fire Staff Officer Pete Gordon said, “Without significant rains last weekend, we started this week cautiously holding on to our restrictions in case the monsoons took a little while to reach across the Forest.  However, the past couple of days brought large amounts of rain across much of the Forest and the forecast indicates a new surge of moisture by Sunday.”

Regarding this year’s fire season, Gordon said, “We sure appreciate our local neighbors and visitors from far away in their cooperation in preventing large fires on the Prescott National Forest so far this year.  We believe our fire restrictions were effective this year and that’s due in large part, to everyone understanding how dry the conditions were and how severe the consequences can be from a wildfire.”

While all fire restrictions will be lifted on Friday, forest visitors are always expected to use caution with campfires and other potential ignition sources.  For information on preventing human-caused fires, visit http://wildlandfire.az.gov.  People can also learn how to reduce the risk of damage from wildfire to homes and communities by visiting www.fireadapted.org.

Visitors of the Prescott National Forest can obtain additional information via the following:

• Prescott NF Forest Website: http://www.fs.usda.gov/prescott/
• Bradshaw Ranger District, (928) 443-8000
• Chino Valley Ranger District (928) 777-2200
• Verde Ranger District (928) 567-4121

Tonto National Forest to lift Fire Restrictions starting July 11, 2014

PHOENIX(July 9, 2014) – All campfire and smoking restrictions affecting the Tonto National Forest will be lifted, effective Friday, July 11, 8 a.m.

The fire restrictions, which covered the entire forest, are no longer needed because fire danger has been reduced by increased moisture and humidity from the annual monsoon season. These wetter conditions prompted officials to lift forest fire restrictions.

“Although campfires and smoking will now be allowed throughout the forest, visitors should properly extinguish cigarettes in ashtrays, and ashes in a campfire ring should be cold enough to touch before they are left,” said Tonto NF Fire Staff Officer Clay Templin.  “Campfires should be put out by drowning with water and stirring with a shovel to ensure the fire is cold.

Forest Supervisor Neil Bosworth extended special thanks to the visiting public during the fire restrictions which began earlier this year.  “We want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding while we had to restrict access and activities on the Tonto during this fire season.  We appreciate our visitors’ support of the restrictions.  Arizona had a challenging fire season that was made a little easier by the small number of human-caused fires.

For more information, visit the Tonto website at www.fs.usda.gov/tontoor call (602) 225-5200 .