Fire bans start in several Phoenix-area parks and preserves
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Starting Wednesday, the City of Phoenix and Maricopa County are enforcing fire bans at their parks and preserves.
Until Sept. 30, visitors are not allowed to have open wood or charcoal fires in city and county nature areas. You are allowed to have propane and gas grills but can only use them in designated picnic areas.
Bureau of Land Management spokesperson Dolores Garcia said these fire bans are crucial to prevent wildfires, especially in the month of May.
“Not only are we seeing that fuels like the grass, the shrubs, brush being very dry, when you add wind to that, it adds fuel to the flame,” Garcia said. “May can be very windy, and that’s what we’re coming to see are those red flag conditions.”
After already responding to quite a few fire starts this year, Tiffany Davila with the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management is emphasizing safety as we enter peak fire season. Knowing that fire danger and conditions have increased statewide, Davila said Arizonans need to take fire bans seriously.
“There’s a lot of overgrown fuel in certain parts of the central portion of the state, across the Sonoran Desert, down into southern Arizona, we have a lot of fuel ready to burn,” Davila said. “Our outlook is pretty much across the state of Arizona. This year there really isn’t one area where the vegetation type one elevation that could be more susceptible to fire than another. We’re going to see widespread fire activity across the state.”
The main goal for the fire bans is to prevent flying embers from sparking a flame at any city or county parks and preserves.
City of Phoenix Parks & Preserves locations enforcing fire ban:
- Camelback Mountain
- Deem Hills Recreation Area
- Lookout Mountain
- Papago Park
- Phoenix Mountains Park and Recreation Area
- Phoenix Mountains Preserve
- Phoenix Sonoran Preserve
- North Mountain Park
- Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area
- South Mountain Park/Preserve
Maricopa County Parks and Preserves locations enforcing fire ban:
- Adobe Dam Regional Park
- Buckeye Hills Regional Park
- Cave Creek Regional Park
- Estrella Mountain Regional Park
- Hassayampa River Preserve
- Lake Pleasant Regional Park
- Desert Outdoor Center
- McDowell Mountain Regional Park
- San Tan Mountain Regional Park
- Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area
- Usery Mountain Regional Park
- White Tank Mountain Regional Park
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