Coconino County enters State 3 Fire Restrictions, banning smoking & all open flames2 min read

Fire Restrictions aim to prevent human-caused wildfires so fire crews have the resources to battle natural wildfires, like the lightning-caused Rafael Fire in 2021. David Jolkovski/Larson Newspapers

Coconino County entered Stage 3 Fire Restrictions at 3 p.m. today, June 17. The restrictions apply for all of Coconino County. Fire restrictions are enacted to help protect public health and safety by reducing the number of human-caused wildfires.

This ordinance applies to unincorporated areas, namely that part of Coconino County outside the corporate limits of any municipality, federally owned land, or any federally recognized tribe in accordance with 25 Code of Federal Regulations part 83.

Stage 3 Fire Restrictions prohibit any combustion, any open fire, use of charcoal or propane or regular wood campfires in unincorporated areas or on private property in the county.

A Stage 3 exemption allows for combustion, open fire, and campfire only when:

  • Persons with a written permit or variance.
  • For personal use of cigarette or other tobacco smoking medium when used inside an enclosed vehicle only.
  • For emergency repair of public utilities and railroads and other health and safety mitigation measures when operated by a public utility or railroad and implemented in accordance with an approved agency plan.
  • By any federal, state, or local officer or member of an organized rescue or firefighting entity in the performance of an official duty.

Unless allowed by an exception above, there are no outdoor activities that allow for open fire, campfire, fireworks, and combustion events.

While activities that involve mechanical operations such as lawn care, home construction, and community clean-ups, are not specifically prohibited, residents and visitors should use their best judgment when considering whether to engage in any activity that could spark a fire. Anyone engaging in these activities could be held legally responsible. 

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For more information, please visit coconino.az.gov/2595/Fire-Restriction-Information. To sign up for emergency notifications, go to www.coconino.az.gov/ready

Christopher Fox Graham

Christopher Fox Graham is the managing editor of the Sedona Rock Rock News, The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra. Hired by Larson Newspapers as a copy editor in 2004, he became assistant manager editor in October 2009 and managing editor in August 2013. Graham has won awards for editorials, investigative news reporting, headline writing, page design and community service from the Arizona Newspapers Association. Graham has also been a guest contributor in Editor & Publisher magazine and featured in the LA Times, New York Post and San Francisco Chronicle. He lectures on journalism, media law and the First Amendment and is a nationally recognized performance aka slam poet. In January 2025, the International Astronomical Union formally named asteroid 29722 Chrisgraham (1999 AQ23) in his honor at the behest of Lowell Observatory, citing him as "an American journalist and longtime managing editor of Sedona Red Rock News. He is a nationally-recognized slam poet who has written and performed multiple poems about Pluto and other space themes."

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