Mary Jo Pitzl
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 31, 2004 12:00 AM

The "Webber" fire, burning on the Mogollon Rim, may herald the early start of a long, hot fire season. Or at least a hot season.

Forest and fire officials on Tuesday offered differing assessments of whether the 1,784-acre blaze in central Arizona meant the state should brace for a bad fire season.

But they agreed that the intensity with which the fire is burning is one more reminder that Arizona's forests and brush lands are at risk after years of drought, bark-beetle infestation and soaring temperatures.

"It's not normal to have large, significant fires this time of year," said Cliff Pearlberg, fire-prevention officer for the State Land Department. "But it's not shocking to me, either. Arizona, by nature, is a warm, arid state."

Earlier this month, forestry officials were predicting a "normal" start to the fire season. That meant it would begin in early May and extend until the monsoon arrived.

But with March likely going into the record books as the hottest ever, some are saying trees, brush and especially grasses are drying out at a faster rate than normal. And that could mean larger fires sooner.

A new fire-season outlook is due Friday from forestry and weather officials.


SIGNS OF DANGER

Fire behavior in the Tonto National Forest, where the Webber fire is burning, signals trouble, said Tom Beddow, deputy director for fire and aviation for the U.S. Forest Service's Southwestern region.

Single trees are erupting in flames, a sign of arid conditions. Usually, it takes a significant amount of fuel to torch an entire tree, but fire managers are reporting the trees are so dry due to drought and bark-beetle infestation that they're exploding with little provocation, he said.

Likewise, the fire is "spotting," sending out flames ahead of the fire line.

"Those are indicators of a bad fire season," Beddow said.

Pearlberg said the deserts may be at special risk this year, given the higher-than-average moisture so far that has caused grasses to spring up and grow to heights not seen in drier years.

"There'll be that much more dead grass come June," he said.

Meanwhile, Tonto Forest officials said the Webber fire was 45 percent contained Tuesday night as 200 firefighters continued battling the blaze. They expect to have the fire fully contained by Friday.

It grew to 1,784 acres on Tuesday, but officials cautioned that the estimated acreage included areas where firefighters conducted controlled "burnouts," small, intentionally lit fires set in the blaze's path to rob it of brush and other fuels.

Tonto Forest spokesman Vinnie Picard said the Webber fire is burning in forest far from property.

"The fire would have to do amazing acrobatics to affect Pine," he said.

The community is about six miles from the fire, but it is on the other side of a ridge that would require the fire to climb up, move across and then down before hitting the populated area, Picard said.


SEEKING FEDERAL HELP

The Webber is the Tonto Forest's biggest fire so far this year but not the first, Picard said.

There have been 19 other wildfires, including one that has been burning since Thursday in the Saddle Mountain Wilderness north of Roosevelt Lake, covering about 50 acres.

Gov. Janet Napolitano used the fire outbreak to underscore her mantra that Arizona's forests are on federal land and that the feds need to send more help.

"In this area, it is acre after acre of dead, bark-beetle-infested trees," she said. "It illustrates that the federal lands almost need a Marshall Plan for forest restoration. You can't keep doling money out with an eye dropper. We need to focus on fire prevention."

Fire-prevention dollars have dipped for this budget year, Beddow said, but should rise next year, when the budgets reflect the priorities of the recently passed Healthy Forest Restoration Act.

Meanwhile, Beddow said the Forest Service expects to be at 80 percent of maximum staffing for this fire season, a figure that is unchanged from last year.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0331fire31.html