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PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) - Prescott National Forest officials didn't
do anything wrong on the prescribed burn that grew out of control
and charred 992 acres outside the planned area last month, a team
of experts concluded.
A fire review team said forest officials could have had more
detailed plans for the 5,000-acre prescribed burn and had more
on-site firefighting resources available. But forest officials
didn't do anything to cause the Cherry fire to jump beyond the
prescribed burn area.
Acting Forest Supervisor Mike Baca said officials went through
the appropriate processes before conducting the burn but didn't do
a good job documenting it.
More energy will be devoted to more detailed planning and
contingency resources, Baca said.
The Cherry fire, about 10 miles west of Camp Verde, grew out of
control and forced people to evacuate about a dozen homes between
Highway 169 and Mingus Mountain. None of them were burned.
The forest officials were qualified for the work, drew up a good
burn plan, and followed it, said Paul Langowski, a fire review team
member. "The fuels and weather just sort of got them," he said.
Nationwide, fewer than 1 percent of the approximately 5,000
prescribed burns that federal land agencies ignite annually escape
their lines, the fire review team said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
do anything wrong on the prescribed burn that grew out of control
and charred 992 acres outside the planned area last month, a team
of experts concluded.
A fire review team said forest officials could have had more
detailed plans for the 5,000-acre prescribed burn and had more
on-site firefighting resources available. But forest officials
didn't do anything to cause the Cherry fire to jump beyond the
prescribed burn area.
Acting Forest Supervisor Mike Baca said officials went through
the appropriate processes before conducting the burn but didn't do
a good job documenting it.
More energy will be devoted to more detailed planning and
contingency resources, Baca said.
The Cherry fire, about 10 miles west of Camp Verde, grew out of
control and forced people to evacuate about a dozen homes between
Highway 169 and Mingus Mountain. None of them were burned.
The forest officials were qualified for the work, drew up a good
burn plan, and followed it, said Paul Langowski, a fire review team
member. "The fuels and weather just sort of got them," he said.
Nationwide, fewer than 1 percent of the approximately 5,000
prescribed burns that federal land agencies ignite annually escape
their lines, the fire review team said.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)