Coconino and kaibab national forest fire personnel respond jointly to wildfire
Coconino and kaibab national forest fire personnel respond jointly to wildfire
06 June 2017
published by https://www.lakepowelllife.com
USA – Fire personnel from the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests are responding jointly to a lightning-caused wildfire located on the northeast side of Kendrick Peak in Kendrick Mountain Wilderness. The 300-acre Boundary Fire is currently burning on the Flagstaff Ranger District of the Coconino National Forest but is expected to move onto the Kaibab National Forest side of the boundary line within the next several days. Therefore, a joint fire organization has been established.
Leadership of the Coconino and Kaibab National Forests plans to employ an indirect suppression strategy on the Boundary Fire due to the significant safety concerns of putting fire personnel in certain areas on the mountain. The wildfire is burning in heavy dead and down trees and forest debris left from the Pumpkin Fire of 2000. Snags, steep slopes and overall hazardous terrain have led fire officials to identify a system of roads at the base of the mountain to serve as boundaries from which to halt the wildfires progression.
Because of this strategy, it is likely that the Boundary Fire will eventually move across much of Kendrick Mountain over the course of the coming weeks, depending on weather and fuels conditions. Forest managers said this strategy will not only reduce the potential risks to fire personnel but will also help in maintaining a healthy ecosystem by reintroducing natural fire back into the forest based on the best available science and risk management techniques.
It is anticipated that the Boundary Fire will help clean up much of the dead and down material left by the Pumpkin Fire, thereby reducing the future probability of high-intensity wildfire and its potentially severe and negative fire effects.
