Agua Caliente Prescribed Fire
Location: 20 miles E of Tucson, Pima Co. AZ
Specific location: Aqua Caliente Hill (Aqua Caliente Hill to Reddington Road)
Date of Origin: 05/12/08
Cause: prescribed fire
Current Situation
Total Personnel: 80
Size: 11,000 acres (intended at ignition)
Containment: 100% (intended at ignition)
Summary: [here]
The Coronado National Forest, in partnership with Arizona Game and Fish Department, plans to use prescribed fire on 11,000 acres in the area of Agua Caliente Hill in Redington Pass, east of Tucson, to reduce heavy accumulations of brush, which will restore wildlife habitat, improve watershed conditions, and reduce future wildfire potential. …
Crews have already prepared the burn area by constructing control lines on the ground, and, on the first day of ignition, will further secure the burn perimeter by “blacklining,” a method of applying fire to a swath of vegetation immediately inside the control lines to create a wide barrier to contain the fire within the designated area. On the second day, fire will be applied to the interior of the burn area using an aerial ignition method in which small plastic spheres containing potassium permanganate and ethylene glycol (referred to as “ping pong balls”) are dropped from a helicopter. The chemicals react thermally to produce fire that ignites vegetation.
Prescribed fire restores declining wildlife habitat and watershed conditions. This area is now overgrown with thick brush which, in part, has altered the natural fire regime from frequent low-intensity fires to infrequent high-intensity fires that can move upslope from Redington Pass into the Santa Catalina or Rincon Mountains. Plants used as forage by wildlife have become coarse, dense and overcrowded. The post-fire landscape will support a variety of grasses and forbs, which are more palatable and nutritious for wildlife species.
The burn area will be closed to the public, and access to Redington Pass will be limited for the duration of prescribed fire activities. As currently scheduled, a pilot car will lead through traffic between the end of the pavement on Redington Road to Milepost 11 on May 12, 13 and possibly 14.
The Bellota Trail from the trailhead east of Catalina Highway will be closed to the junction with Redington Road and Agua Caliente Trail will be closed May 12 through approximately May 18, depending on weather and fire conditions. (These dates are subject to modification based on the actual date of ignition during the burn window.)
US Forest Service Proceeds With Planned Burn Despite Windy Conditions [here]
By Jim Becker, KOLD News 13, 5-12-08
So long as the winds stayed steady from the southwest, a team of 80 firefighters began an 11-thousand acre prescribed burn in Redington Pass Monday morning.
The Coronado National Forest is teaming up with Arizona Game and Fish to clear brush around Agua Caliente Hill.
Managers want to improve conditions for wildlife.
“What we’re anticipating with this burn is to clear off a lot of that vegetation, open it up more for grasses and other forms that are more nutritious and palatable,” explains Heidi Schewel of the US Forest Service.
As an added benefit, the controlled burn will help keep wildfires from getting out of control.
“It’s kind of pay less now rather than paying more later,” says Joshua Taiz, a wildlife biologist for the forest service and Resource Advisor for the project.
The burn will continue throughout the week.
Rain in the forecast could hamper efforts, Schewel says, because a rise in humidity makes fuels harder to burn and would produce more smoke, something the Tucson valley could well do without.
