National forest blaze considered sign of season to come

Arthur H. Rotstein

Wednesday, May 3, 2000 | 3:15 a.m.

TUCSON, Ariz. - A shortage of firefighting crews if several major forest fires break out at once this spring will force officials to choose which blazes to fight, southern Arizona foresters who predict an intense fire season say.

Dean McAlister, forest ranger for the Coronado National Forest's Santa Catalina District, said regional national forest officials will give priority to fires near homes. They also will have to determine which other blazes will be allowed to continue burning, he said.

Meanwhile, with more than 500 firefighters already committed to fighting a fire on the Tonto National Forest, officials are looking to other states to find firefighting crews, McAlister said Tuesday.

There have been 43 fires on state and federal lands in southern Arizona so far this year, burning 6,500 acres - including 31 fires on the Coronado. Virtually all have been human-caused.

The Tonto's Coon Creek fire has blackened more than 6,600 acres about 30 miles north of Globe, fueled by dried-out chaparral, manzanita, pine trees and juniper, and has drawn about 560 firefighters, stretching resources for other areas.

Ted Moore, a fire management ranger for the Coronado National Forest, said prolonged monsoon seasons in 1998 and 1999 helped build up quick-burning grasses in lower elevations, while trees and brush at higher elevations have dried out from a lack of snowfall.

Even big logs, which usually have at least 30 percent moisture content this time of year, are already down to only 8 or 9 percent moisture. They typically don't get that dry until mid-June.

"We've been there for almost a month," Moore said.

Such logs burn extremely hot, increasing the chance of flames reaching into treetops, creating wind-whipped crown fires, Moore said.

Fire conditions are the driest since 1903-1904, said Paul Flatt, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service. He held out little hope of any rain before expected monsoons in mid-June or July.

The so-called La Nina weather effect, reflecting cooler currents in the Pacific Ocean that affect precipitation patterns across the country, remains firmly in place for a second straight year, Flatt said.

It already produced a second-straight dry winter in the Southwest, and forecasters have said there could be a 10 percent greater than usual chance for a wetter than average summer here, he said.

Adding to those concerns is a shortage of hand crews to dig lines and clear brush from around wildfires.

Many of the men and women who used to work as seasonal firefighters have taken full-time jobs. The supply of workers has really dwindled among a traditionally strong source - the Indian tribes of the Southwest.

"Indian gaming is one of the reasons - employment on the reservations," McAlister said.

New Mexico's Santa Fe National Forest used to field about 35 firefighting crews from nine Indian pueblos in its area, but is down to about 12, he said.

There also are fewer people at the agency level available to fight fires because of downscaling, McAlister said. The military is probably the closest available resource to back up traditional wildland fire resources, he added.