Controlled burns combined with thinning projects remain the key to slowing down the plague of town destroying fires, according to a growing body of research.
So don’t freak out if you sniff smoke out in the forest — since the Forest Service is taking advantage of the first dash of winter after a hot, dry fall to burn off debris piles in several national forests.
The Coconino and Apache-Sitgreaves Forests this week sent out notices that they’ll be burning piles of debris on hundreds of acres left by thinning and logging projects near Flagstaff and Alpine — with more to come...