Fire officials are preparing for an active wildfire season as we enter the summer months. The Coronado National Forest says, in Arizona, that season is year round.
Steve Miranda, a fire staff officer with the Coronado National Forest, says state, local and federal agencies constantly monitor preparedness levels to ensure resources are available to meet objectives.
“We learn from all of our fires, not just in Arizona. We learn across the West and we try study them and learn where folks have been either injured or killed — learn what those decisions were and try to mitigate those in the future,” Miranda said.
This week, top wildfire managers visited Arizona Public Media, among them: Steve Miranda, a fire staff office for the Coronado National Forest; John Thornburg, a fire management officer for Saguaro National Park; and Steve Millert, the southeast district manager for Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.
Thornburg said though resources can be a challenge, the various agencies are committed to providing the best service throughout the West.
“We bring in those resources that are available in other parts of the country that aren’t in fire season and help bolster our suppression resources so when we do have a fire that we have adequate resources. As the fire season progresses and our indices decrease our resources move to other parts of the country to help with their fire seasons.”
The trio discussed efforts to include collaboration amongst all partners, “no matter what shirt you’re wearing or what agency you represent, I think we’ve built enough of a relationship that it’s a very easy discussion.”
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