GOVERNMENT
Summer of fire Wildfires tripled this year in Pinal County. Here’s why BY MONICA D. SPENCER
We had one gentleman near [State Route] 84 unintentionally start a fire by trying to smoke out a beehive near his yard. A big, old tree caught fire and went almost 30 acres.” ALLEN ALCOTT, THUNDERBIRD FIRE DISTRICT CHIEF
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guard because of the amount of fuel,” Davila said. An unseasonably high amount of rainfall last winter meant the area saw more grass than usual but dried out as temperatures warmed through spring and early summer. “People don’t understand that little patches of grass are small, but they spread very fast,” Alcott said. “Once it starts spreading, it gets into taller vegetation, mesquite bushes, sagebrush and just goes.” Rural fires a health concern in city Damage from wildfires isn’t limited to the landscape nor structures. Dr. Tara Ostrom of Prairie, Minn.-based Optum Health, which has clinics and providers in Pinal County, said the impacts to physical health can be just as damaging if not more, whether the fire is next door or miles away. “It kind of depends on how big the fire is
or recreating. That’s when we see a lot of our human-caused fires, but that trend shifts to lightning in July and August when the monsoons start rolling in.” In the rural communities surrounding Maricopa, those fires typically start up from residents working on their property. “The majority of fires this year were people working to improve their place,” Alcott said. “We had people welding fences, burning trash. We had one gentleman near [State Route] 84 unintentionally start a fire by trying to smoke out a beehive near his yard. A big, old tree caught fire and went almost 30 acres.” According to Davila and him, all of this year’s wildfires were at least in part human caused, but also because the surrounding environment created perfect conditions for wildfire. “People were going about doing normal activities, but this year was catching them off
County,” said DFFM spokesperson Tiffany Davila. “We were wondering, ‘What is going on out here?’” It was unusual. Last year, the county only saw 38 wildfires. The year before that, there were just 18 fires. But this year proved atypical. At least 75 wildfires had erupted across Pinal County by the end of August, burning 46,929 acres — the size of nearly 100 Disneylands. That’s more than four times the number of fires compared to 2022 and a 19,292% increase in the amount of acreage burned. It made for plenty of speculation about the cause. Human caused, nature fueled Residents in Hidden Valley, Thunderbird Farms and Maricopa proper pointed fingers at target shooters firing at propane tanks. Others
and where, but there’s significant impact to the air quality,” she said. “It can impact the throat, lungs, eyes and even skin. There’s a significant impact to those with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart disease.” This is because the tiny particulates and chemical components of wildfire smoke can irritate or inflame the lungs, causing wheezing and shortness of breath. Other side effects from wildfire smoke include itchy skin, eczema flareups, stinging eyes and conjunctivitis. Ostrom said the trauma of experiencing a wildfire close to home can also affect emotional health. “Sometimes just the threat of losing your home can be a traumatic process to go through,” she said. “It’s normal to experience a whole range of negative emotions.” That was the case for Bagdad, Ariz., resident Christine Delgado. She and 11 of her neighbors lost their homes in the Spur Fire in June 2021.
blamed an anonymous serial arsonist or a local firearms manufacturer. However, officials squashed those rumors. “A lot of people asked about arsonists, but we didn’t find that,” Alcott said. “Sometimes it was people trying to do good, sometimes it was people just not paying attention.” Davila seconded that. “We could never find any evidence of arson,” Davila said. “Usually, when we arrived on scene, the homeowner would say they had an accident, or a fire got out of hand.” But speculators weren’t too far off. The most overt trend among wildfires in Pinal County and the state is most are human caused. “We usually see about 70 to 85% of fires caused by humans every year,” Davila said. “In the spring, we have a lot of human interaction in the wildland where people are working
N ANY GIVEN DAY IN APRIL, western Pinal County residents saw smoke unravel into the sky. Some days, the smoke was
barely visible against mountain backdrops and clear skies. Others, like during the 315- acre Jenkins Fire at Jenkins Way and Barnes Road in Thunderbird Farms at the month’s end, sent massive plumes into the air and darkened the sky. It set off alarm bells not just for residents but for local fire districts. “There were days where we were running to two or three fires in the same day,” said Thunderbird Fire District Chief Allen Alcott. “This was the busiest year we’ve ever had by far.” The surge caught the attention of Arizona’s Department of Forestry and Fire Management. “Early on in April, we were sometimes responding to multiple fires a day across Pinal
InMaricopa.com | October 2024
October 2024 | InMaricopa.com
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