Community News

News Release: Pile Burning Will Continue on Tusayan and Williams Ranger Districts This Week

December 28, 2020

 WILLIAMS, Ariz., Dec. 28, 2020 - Fire managers on the south zone on the Kaibab National Forest will be taking advantage of winter weather conditions and will continue igniting slash piles on both the Williams and Tusayan Ranger Districts Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

Approximately 200 acres of hand piles will be burned about 3 miles southeast of Tusayan on the east side of state route 64. Another 200 acres of larger machine piles will also be consumed near Hardy Hill on forest road 141 near Spring Valley on the west side of Sitgreaves Mountain.

Snowy weather conditions are forecasted to arrive in the local area Monday evening providing ideal conditions to eliminate hazardous fuels in these areas. Operations are expected to last no longer than 2 days. This fuels reduction work is part of the ongoing forest restoration initiative that will be continuing in and around forested landscapes across northern Arizona.

Piles typically burn rapidly and produce far less smoke for shorter durations than larger broadcast burns over the landscape. Smoke may be visible from rural areas surrounding these two locations including the I-40 and highway 64 corridors during the day, however, is not expected to linger after piles have consumed.

All prescribed burns are subject to approval from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Members of the public may view approved prescribed fires at smoke.azdeq.gov/To learn more about smoke and public health, visit http://bit.ly/SmokeHealthAwareness