Posted by : Tiffany Davila  On October 30th, 2025 10:58 am

      

Flagstaff, AZ (10/30/2025) – Starting the week of November 3, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management (DFFM) plans to take advantage of favorable weather and conduct two prescribed fire projects, both located southwest of Flagstaff.

Crusher Prescribed Fire:

On Monday, November 3, the agency will start the 65-acre Crusher Prescribed Fire. Crusher is one burn block within DFFM’s larger-scale, Flagstaff Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Prescribed Fire burn plan. The project is located along the west and east sides of State Route 89A, 9 miles west of Kachina Village, and 10 miles south/southwest of Flagstaff.

The Crusher Prescribed Fire is a one-day, broadcast burn intended to clear out stagnant vegetation piles, in addition, clean the forest floor, and protect healthy Ponderosa Pine. The project also helps to decrease the severity of wildfires and provide a safety net to nearby communities. Project managers expect ignitions to start in the morning with a potential, moderate smoke impact to SR-89A throughout the day. Smoke should decrease in the evening hours.

Rogers Lake Prescribed Fire:

Then on Tuesday, November 4, project managers will start ignitions to the 150-acre Rogers Lake Prescribed Fire on the northeast side of Rogers Lake, 9 miles southwest of Flagstaff. The Rogers Lake Prescribed Fire project is a one day, broadcast burn across State Trust and private lands designed to help mitigate overgrown vegetation consisting of Ponderosa Pine and grasses to decrease the threat of catastrophic wildfire to nearby communities.

Through hand ignitions and strategic placement of fire, the Rogers Lake project will reduce fine fuel buildup across the forest floor to assist with forest restoration and maintenance. The project also helps to reintroduce nutrients to the soil and reestablish healthy vegetation. Additionally, the project will aid to mitigate extreme fire behavior and provide firefighters with a safer environment and workspace to suppress wildfires. Hand crews plan to start firing operations in the morning with winds likely to push smoke to the northeast, potentially affecting Interstate 40, nearby communities, and the far west end of Flagstaff.

As with all prescribed fire projects, DFFM works closely with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) throughout the planning and implementation phases to mitigate any potential long-term smoke impacts to communities within the vicinity of the project work. Prescribed fire projects are weather dependent and project managers can cancel or reschedule work if the weather is not safe or favorable for burning. All projects must be approved by ADEQ prior to starting ignitions.

For more information, contact Tiffany Davila at 602-540-1036 or by email at tdavila@dffm.az.gov

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