| FLAGSTAFF — As part of important active forest management, fire managers are planning a number of prescribed burn projects next week to reduce hazardous forest fuels in strategic areas of the national forest to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires to many northern Arizona communities.
Prescribed burns are always dependent upon multiple conditions, including personnel availability, fuel conditions, weather and approval from the Arizona Department of Environment Quality. The burns may be changed or canceled last-minute if burn conditions do not meet criteria outlined in advance.
Should wind and weather conditions become unfavorable, ignitions will be halted, and project plans will be postponed, changed or canceled. If that occurs, the updates will be posted on our Coconino NF Prescribed Burn Projects InciWeb page, which is updated any time new information is available. The following projects are listed in chronological order.
West Fork Crater Sinks
- Dates: May 20 or 21, 2025.
- Location: Flagstaff Ranger District. 13 miles southwest of Flagstaff.
- Size: 1,795 acres total (955 acres of national forest; 840 acres of state land).
- Type of Burn: Broadcast, with components of initial entry and maintenance. (See Methods & Types of Prescribed Burns dropdown menu for explanation.)
- Smoke Impacts: Smoke impacts should stay localized to the burn area with a slight chance of overnight impacts to U.S. Highway 89A in the Fry Canyon area near Forest Road 535A. Possible impacts to Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek—especially in the evening hours after the burn.
- Why: This burn will reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire southwest of Flagstaff by reducing hazardous forest fuels accumulation.
- Notes: The intent is to complete this burn in one day. Fire managers will determine which day to proceed with firing operations based on weather forecasts. This project had been tentatively planned for late April but was rescheduled due to weather.
Bar-M Mint East
- Dates: May 21-23, 2025.
- Location: Flagstaff Ranger District. 24 miles southwest of Flagstaff.
- Size: 4,876 acres.
- Type of Burn: Maintenance.
- Smoke Impacts: Smoke will be highly noticeable south of Flagstaff. Smoke impacts will be felt in the Mormon Lake Village area, and along Lake Mary Road.
- Why: This burn will clean up dead and down fuel left from the 2015 Camillo Fire.
- Notes: Fire managers plan to conduct most firing operations on May 21, but plan to use the following two days to conduct smaller firing operations within the interior of the burn unit to clean up as much fuel as possible.
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