The Arizona State Department of Forestry and Fire Management and Coconino National Forest fire managers have taken advantage of current weather conditions and begin work on a highly visible prescribed burn project southwest of Flagstaff, starting Wednesday, Jan. 22.

The Crater Sinks Prescribed Burn is located roughly 14 miles north of Sedona, eight miles west of Kachina Village, roughly 12 miles southwest of Flagstaff.

The fire is roughly 1,700 acres. About 950 acres are state land and about 750 acres are Coconino National Forest land. This is a “broadcast maintenance burn.” Broadcast burning means firefighters will spread the fire across the landscape using drip torches, “broadcasting” the low-intensity fire across the landscape. Maintenance burns usually mean wildfire has recently been through the area, which tends to mean less smoke since forest fuels will not be as thick or built up over time.

This prescribed burn will reduce hazardous fuels in the area. By reducing hazardous fuels, such as pine litter and dried needlecast, during times of cooler weather and lower winds, fire managers can create a buffer zone to safeguard communities and infrastructure from the risk of catastrophic wildfire during peak wildfire season.

No formal closure orders will be issued, but members of the public are asked to avoid the fire area.

Smoke

Smoke impacts predicted include north and possibly northeast winds will likely push smoke up to Sycamore Canyon and down to the Verde Valley and Sedona. Smoke is likely to settle in low-lying areas overnight.

Fire managers take air quality concerns seriously and seek to minimize smoke impacts to the greatest extent possible. Despite the benefits of prescribed burns, we are aware that members of the community can be sensitive to the smoke produced. We coordinate closely with partners to keep communities informed about projects and potential smoke, as well as try to mitigate impacts to communities as much as possible. One tool to use to track air quality and smoke impacts is fire.airnow.gov.

Prescribed burns are always dependent upon multiple conditions, including personnel availability, fuel conditions, weather and approval from the Arizona Department of Environment Quality.

A new Smoke Complaint Hotline has been established for the public at 928-226-4608 for the public to leave their name and number if they would like to speak to fire leadership regarding smoke impacts and prescribed burn concerns