Fires broke out across Mohave County last week, and some are expected to continue into this week, but the fires are not alarming. Several federal agencies took advantage of the cool, humid weather to conduct prescribed burns on their respective lands.
The Bureau of Land Management is conducting controlled burning of piles of vegetation in the Hualapai Mountains that were removed to create fire lines and sheltered spaces for housing on the mountaintops. Hualapai crews are burning mountains of vegetation and are setting off other slash-and-burn operations in the area, such as a 600-acre managed burn at Havasu National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday, said Doloras Garcia, public information officer. He said that it was a little less noticeable compared to the previous year.
“What we're burning there is a mountain,” Garcia said. “With the Havasu Wildlife Refuge fire, they were broadcasting further across the landscape. We are burning piles of cleared vegetation as part of the maintenance of some of the fuel rest areas there. On Tuesday, they were burning vegetation that some Pine Lake residents had cleared to create defensible space.
Garcia said the BLM shut down the burn on Wednesday and Thursday because of the winds, but restarted it near Atherton Acres on Friday.
Garcia said the BLM plans to continue burning near Hayden Peak this week.
The BLM has given these burns several months to occur, but decided to start them last week because of favorable conditions.
“It depends on the conditions during the period,” Garcia said. “We're taking our chances when conditions are good. Good Hualapai conditions usually have a little bit of snow on the ground, and that's what we've experienced locally.”
Other prescribed burns that occurred in or near Mohave County in the past week include a controlled burn in Bullhead City at Heritage Park along the Colorado River near the original Laughlin Bridge, and a controlled burn on private or tribal land south of the new Laughlin Bridge. This includes several controlled burns at Lake Havasu City, and a controlled burn at the Bill Williams National Wildlife Refuge south of Havasu City.
“People have to get used to seeing controlled burns,” said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which conducted the burn near the Bill Williams Bridge between Parker and Lake Havasu in northern La Paz County. said project leader Richie Myers.
The burn, which cleared about 68 acres of cattail swamp near the Bill Williams Bridge, created a “large column of smoke” that could be seen for miles, Myers said.
“Controlling burns is actually a good thing,” Myers said, noting that fires can help remove fuel and lead to even larger, unexpected wildfires. Most wildfires are caused by lightning or by human chance.
“(Controlling the burn) reduces the risk of a larger fire later on,” Myers said.
Garcia recommends that anyone who lives in an overgrown area look around their home and remove or cut back vegetation when they get the chance.
“Give your home some fighting variety. Create a defensible space,” she said.
She also cautioned that wildfires can occur year-round in Arizona, especially when the humidity is low.
“Always be careful when you go out,” Garcia said. “Conditions are dry and we're not getting as much moisture as we would like. So there's always a chance of wildfires starting. So always be careful outside.”
River City News' Bill McMillen contributed to this article.
