Funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has significantly increased the effectiveness of fire suppression in the Mojave Desert on the Arizona Strip and within the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. The results were very apparent during the July 2011 Hidden Fire.

 

The recent completion of an ARRA-funded project with two 50,000-gallon storage tanks that feed a 50,000-gallon helicopter dip tank made it possible for fire managers to tap a large supply of water from an onsite well in a bone-dry, desert environment.  The addition of a solar array, also funded through ARRA, doubled the power capacity at the Pakoon Fire Station to a 5.6-kilowatt solar system, significantly aiding the suppression team’s capabilities.

 

In such a remote location, with abundant valuable sensitive resources but limited fire mitigation capabilities, the new capacity to tap into more than 100,000 gallons of water is priceless. For firefighters, the improvements made possible through ARRA provided significant advantages in their ability to quickly and efficiently manage the Hidden Fire. “If not for this ARRA-funded project, many more highly valuable and sensitive resources would have been burned,” said Arizona Strip District Assistant Fire Management Officer Terry Swinscoe.

 

“Approximately one third of the fire was in Mojave Desert Tortoise Critical Habitat so a quick response was essential due to the “flashy fuels,” in that area which ignite and spread fire quickly,” said Pam McAlpin, BLM Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument Manager. “The addition of these huge tanks, built with ARRA funding, significantly increased the efficiency of fire suppression operations.”

 

Another big plus for this project ties directly to ARRA’s job enhancement goals: The work for the Pakoon Fire Station’s storage tank and energy supplementation project provided 215 work-days to a construction company throughout the life of the project.

 

Read the complete ARRA success story at http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/info/newsroom/2011/july/ARRA-fire.html