The Sedona Fire District hosted a community wildfire meeting at the Sedona Performing Arts Center that included presentations by staff from municipal and county agencies, the U.S. Forest Service and utility companies on April 2.
“We’re going to see an above-average fire danger … especially in May and June, pre-monsoon,” U.S. Forest Service District Fire Management Officer Travis Mabery said. Officials repeated throughout the event that they believe the 2025 wildfire season has the potential to be highly active because of persistent dry conditions across the region.
“Unlike year’s past, state and regional fire behavior analysts warn this year, Arizona’s lingering warm and dry conditions, coupled with drought-stricken fuel could be the driving forces for widespread fire activity,” the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management stated in a recent press release. “In addition, a windier spring weather pattern and sustained warm and dry conditions could potentially lead to larger and longer duration fires sooner.”
About five hands went up when SFD Assistant Fire Chief Jayson Coil asked the audience how many people in attendance had received an insurance cancelation because of wildfire risk. Arizonans saw a 48% increase in homeowner insurance premiums between 2021 and 2024, the third-largest spike in the nation, according to a recent survey by the Consumer Federation of America.
“We need to push risk visibility down to the partial level. Right now, the insurance companies use a bunch of aggregated data, so they look at the market and see if they have too much exposure in that market, and then they pick some people out of it … to remove from their risk pool, and that’s the way they deal with it right now,” Coil said. “So we need to get that risk information [to the] parcel. We’re working on a couple different initiatives to be able to do that. And next thing is the community level awareness.”
Mabery said that the Red Rock Ranger District plans to start a National Environmental Policy Act process for its proposed fire management plan this summer, which is expected to include fire breaks on two sides of Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek.
“When somebody thinks about a ring around the entire city or around the Village of Oak Creek, that probably isn’t feasible for us,” RRRD District Ranger Alex Schlueter later clarified.
“We will be fully staffed this summer,” Mabery said about USFS wildland firefighting when asked about cuts in federal funding by an audience member.
More significantly, Schlueter said the Forest Service will be announcing expanded areas in the district for the collection of dead and downed firewood with a permit in order to reduce wildfire risk later in the month.
Residents in the audience expressed disappointment with Arizona Public Service and with the USFS for not sending representatives to the nonprofit Big Park Regional Coordinating Council’s Feb. 19 meeting about APS’ proposed 13.7- mile above-ground transmission line between the VOC and McGuireville. Representatives were set to present information but withdrew the day before and BPRCC failed to notify attendees before the meeting.
“The analysis showed that it would be a minimal increase to wildfire risk,” Schlueter said with regard to the project.
Sedona Police Chief Stephanie Foley reiterated the city’s messaging to get residents to sign up for notifications for its emergency evacuation plan, while Arizona Water Company Division Manager John Snickers said that AWC was in the process of “wrapping up” the construction of the new $20-million, 1.5- million-gallon storage tank at the intersection of State Route 179 and West Mallard Drive.
