< All Press Releases

TUCSON, Ariz. – The 2017 wildland fire season in southeastern Arizona was about as hot and intense as the flames firefighters battled throughout the summer. The numbers are staggering: 335 fires burning approximately 175,132 acres on the lands protected by the Southeast Zone Interagency Partnership. That accounts for nearly 44% of all the acres burned in Arizona this season.

Wildland fires don’t burn according to jurisdictional lines as a single fire can cross lands managed by the BLM, U.S Forest Service (USFS), National Park Service (NPS), Arizona State Lands and private lands in a single day. Due to simultaneous fire starts, rapid fire growth, and increased fire complexity, more Incident Management Teams were utilized in the zone this year than in recent history.

“I would like to thank all of our partners for the cooperation and shared leadership we demonstrated this season,” said Kerwin Dewberry, Forest Manager for the Coronado National Forest. “We all approach wildfires with strategies to achieve the highest probability of success while implementing our shared values around Life First.”

"We knew early on this was going to be a very active fire season, but the strong collaboration between our local, county, tribal, and federal counterparts contributed to this year's successes," said Arizona State Forester Jeff Whitney. “It takes a cooperative effort to be effective and we thank our partners for their diligence in working to protect our Arizona communities."

“No single agency can fight these fires alone,” said Scott Feldhausen, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Gila District Manager. ”At the beginning of each day, our fire crews are focused on one thing: protecting the American people,” said Feldhausen. “They put their lives in danger to protect residents, their homes, their businesses, and each other.”

One of the local industries dependent on wildland fire protection are the wine vineyards, as the threat of losing an entire crop to a fire could have devastating effects.
“There are no words sufficient to express our gratitude to the wildland firefighters who worked tirelessly to put the fires out," said Mark Beres, the owner of the Flying Leap Vineyards & Distillery. “They protected our homes and businesses and kept wine country commerce alive in the region. We are humbled and forever in their debt.”

The Bureau of Land Management Gila District not only supported the fires within the Southeast zone, employees also responded to 33 fires on BLM-managed lands ̶ 21 human caused and 12 natural caused fires for a total of 20,013 acres, more than three times the average of acreage burned over the last five years.

The BLM Gila District Air Operations Center in Safford flew on 26 different fires, dropping 282,246 gallons of retardant from 10 different aircraft that tallied 323.93 flight hours. They also hosted 10 different helicopter crews and multiple Air Attack aircraft. Gila District also had 91 fire and non-fire personnel support the efforts during the busy fire season.

The BLM Gila District supports the interagency firewise program that assists home and business owners protect their properties and agencies protect valuable resources from the ravages of wildland fire. This year firewise activities paid off saving numerous homes and structures. "The firewise work that the BLM and foundation partners did really paid off during the Sawmill Fire," said Alison Bunting, historian for the Empire Ranch Foundation. “By keeping the areas around the historic structures mowed we didn't lose a single structure."

The BLM Gila District works to coordinate response to wildland fire with the Coronado National Forest, Saguaro National Park, Coronado National Memorial, Chiricahua National Monument, Fort Bowie National Historic Site, Tumacácori National Historical Park, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, local fire departments, and the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

Arizona fire crews work wasn’t done once the monsoon rains slowed the local activity, as they’ve been supporting fire efforts in California, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, and Oregon.