Mitchell and Hot Air 2004

The Mitchell and Hot Air prescribed fires were the first attempt by the Clifton Ranger District, Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, to implement a landscape-scale project of this size (5,000-7,000 acres) and complexity. Ground firing operations started on May 12, 2004. Hand-firing operations, along with aerial ignition, continued on the next day. On May 14, a dry air mass moved into the area, producing conditions that led to problematic fire behavior and shutting down ignitions by the 15th . Complex ignition patterns to meet resource objectives and multiple fuel models created large areas of unburned fuels that were allowed to burn freely under burn plan prescriptions as the weather became warmer and drier. As a result, the increase in fire behavior produced spotting problems that daily challenged the assigned resources. On May 18, after persistent holding problems and the inability to return the prescribed fires to prescription with the assigned resources, the prescribed fires were converted to the Rose and Pigeon wildfires.

Escaped Prescribed Fire