APS shares wildfire plan to council
17 June 2022
Published by: https://www.thefoothillsfocus.com
USA – To prepare for possible wildfires, APS shared with the Cave Creek Town Council a response plan and advised about possible outages.
Jeff Spohn, APS director of distribution, and Scott Dearth, APS manager of distribution and maintenance, attended the June 6 Cave Creek Town Council meeting to inform the public of a plan they hope to be effective.
It’s been two years since major brush fires tore through the area in May 2020. The East Desert and Ocotillo fires burned more than 2,700 acres, impacting several structures.
According to reports from Maricopa County, the Ocotillo fire alone caused $1.2 million in damage, destroying 20 buildings, including eight homes. The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management sent air tankers to help control the fire.
The Cave Creek Complex Wildfire of 2005 was the third largest forest fire in Arizona, scorching over 2,500 acres.
APS officials warned of the unpredictability of the wildfires, and the prevention of overgrowth of fuels, and reduction of possible ignitions.
The prevention plan highlights the vegetation management program that is executed on cycle, the introduction of detailed line inspections, which are conducted to identify high-risk fire areas, and customer programs put in place to help support the community in fire prevention.
Defensible space around poles — or DSAP — is a program enforced to proactively create defensible space around poles to prevent wildfire ignitions and clear vegetation 10 feet in all directions.
The Right Tree/Right Place program sets regulations on spacing between low-growing trees and wire zones, which has proved to be effective in wildfire scenarios.
APS also initiated a team of fire mitigation specialists that coordinate APS response with local responding agencies.
If a wildfire happens, power outages may occur and APS will not restore power until it is confirmed the line is not compromised.
Fire mesh is another APS recommendation as a smart infrastructure technology that will reduce damages to poles in the line of fire, which will help to prevent outages.
If an outage occurs, APS advises to avoid downed power lines, to use flashlights and candles, keep refrigerators and freezers closed, and to unplug unnecessary electrical equipment to prevent the system from overloading.
“We are foundational in our approach to the wildfire scenario and its increasing volatility over the last 20 years, we’re an extremely reliable utility and a top performing utility,” Spohn said regarding their fire response efforts.
