As fires continue to burn throughout Arizona, our highways are in various stages of closures and reopenings. But once a road does reopen, it’s imperative for motorists to be prepared and expect the unexpected.

State Route 77 recently reopened between Globe and Winkelman after being closed much of June due to the Telegraph Fire. And while the fire itself is contained, there’s still plenty to be aware of while driving the highway.

Expect the unexpected!

In areas affected by a burn scar, you may come across loose debris or even a rock fall. It’s important to pay extra attention when traveling through these areas. There’s also a chance for flash floods, especially with monsoon season now upon us.

If you happen upon a road closure sign, don’t go around it! It’s there for your safety, and the safety of all Arizona motorists. Turn around and check out AZ511.gov for an alternate route to your destination.

Due to wildfires this year and in recent years, burn scars are scattered throughout the state. If there is a heavy monsoon rain, the potential for flooding in and around a burn scar exists. ADOT crews prepare for this by staging equipment along the highway. That way, if a compromising situation should arise, personnel are primed to respond quickly.

Last summer, after the Bush Fire scorched through the Lake Roosevelt area, State Route 188 experienced a mudslide as seen in the image to the left. Since ADOT crews were ready to go, the road was closed quickly and without any motorists getting stuck for a long time. The same emergency action plan is being applied this year.

And it’s not just one highway that may be affected by possible burn scar circumstances. Kurt Harris, assistant district engineer with ADOT’s southeast district, tells us that in 2021 alone, there are several highways they’ll be keeping a close eye on. Those include state routes 77, 88, 177, 188 and 288 along with US routes 60 and 70. 

Crews will be staging equipment in these areas so they can respond quickly to clean up debris or clear the road of any hazard that may be present. 

So what type of equipment do ADOT crews use in these situations? Drivers will likely see loaders and sidecast brooms as they pass by staging areas. These pieces of machinery help clear the road efficiently.

Burn scars have formed in other areas of the state as well, like state routes 87 and 260 from the Backbone Fire, and US 191 from the Bear Fire.

Wherever your summer travels take you, it’s important to bring along this advice should you find yourself in one of these affected areas.

And remember, AZ 511 is your go-to source for Arizona highway incidents. If you’re looking for local road information or flood alerts, both Gila and Pinal counties have emergency alert websites as well.

Fires are burning in several areas of the state. Residents have been evacuated from their homes. Wildfire responders are working tirelessly to get control and put the fires out. Roads in active fire areas are closed. ADOT does not decide which roads to close. Closures are determined by Fire Incident Commanders who work in conjunction with law enforcement and ADOT. ADOT’s job is to staff the closures to ensure motorists do not go around a barrier or other method used to shut down a road. 

Closing a road to traffic, especially when people have homes in the area, is a tough decision. But the decision must be made in active fire areas to keep fire responders safe from traffic while they do their work, and to keep motorists out of dangerous areas and potentially becoming another problem for emergency personnel. ADOT is doing its part by urging motorists to obey all road restrictions and heed cautions issued by ADOT workers in and around areas affected by fire-related road closures.

ADOT crews are reporting encounters with motorists who are angry and demand to be allowed to drive on a closed highway. Brett Rupp, an ADOT Highway Operations Technical Supervisor in Payson says, “ADOT maintenance crews live in and around the communities we serve and some of us have had to evacuate ourselves and our families. It’s unfortunate when one of our crewmembers is confronted by an upset motorist because people may not realize what that person standing in the heat and smoke for several hours is going through. His or her home may be at risk, but they are still on the job protecting the community.”

“We understand that especially for people who live in areas affected by a wildfire, this is a very stressful situation for the entire community,” said Rod Lane, an ADOT District Engineer, who has handled fire-related closures for a number of years. “Our maintenance crews who close these roads do it to ensure that emergency responders can use the roads to access fire areas, evacuate residents and keep people out of harm's way. We’re doing our best to keep everyone safe.”

Our ADOT crews would much rather be doing their regular work of repairing guardrails, pavement and cleaning up trash left by motorists, but public safety comes first. Our ADOT crews want the roads to their communities and yours to be open as soon as it is safe to do so. Belligerent behavior toward ADOT personnel will not convince them to let you pass through the barriers, nor will it help to open the road faster. Our motorists can do their part by remaining calm, practicing the Golden Rule and making driving safely their top priority to keep ADOT emergency personnel focused on fighting the fires.  

For updated information on road conditions and restrictions, visit az511.gov.

Fire season may be getting an early start this year. Low humidity and high winds in mid-March meant an elevated fire danger in the southern parts of the state. We've already seen at least one wildfire along Interstate 10 in the Sacaton area (that's the photo to the right) and another along State Route 188 too. 

This year – as every year – ADOT is encouraging all drivers to help give firefighters as much of a break as possible. Fighting a wildfire is hot, sweaty work, and can quickly exhaust a person. More than that, wildfires endangers lives, both for firefighters and the public at large. For example, in June 2018, a trailer dragging metal sparked several fires along State Route 377. Those fires eventually grew to 5,000 acres and prompted evacuations between Heber-Overgaard and Holbrook.

But the good news is helping to prevent vehicle-caused wildfires is easy! Here are some tips: 

• Do not throw cigarette butts out your vehicle window. Either carry a special fireproof container in your vehicle to extinguish them or use a half-full water bottle.
• Do not park in tall grass or brush (heat from under your vehicle can set vegetation on fire).
• Secure your tow chains before heading out to avoid causing sparks.
• Check your tire pressure before you travel. Exposed wheel rims can cause sparks.

Let's give firefighters a bit of a break this year! Check your vehicle before heading out and be mindful of where you park.

Find additional tips and resources for preventing wildfires at focusondriving.org

After the Bush Fire was contained and put out, ADOT began to do its evaluation of the damage. In addition to more than 11 miles of guardrail and right-of-way fence damage along SR 87 and SR 188, south of Payson, the land itself was damaged with a lot of the vegetation burned up as fuel for the fire. 

This left the area more susceptible to flooding in the event of monsoon storms. 

Realizing this possibility, ADOT reached out to the National Weather Service and began to develop an emergency action plan that could help cut response times in the event of flooding in the area. 

The plan, which helps fulfill ADOT’s initiatives in the Pathfinder Program with the Federal Highway Administration, will go into effect when a monsoon storm approaches the area just south of Payson. The National Weather Service will contact ADOT’s Traffic Operations Center to advise them of the potential for rain in the area. The TOC will then dispatch maintenance crews to pre-stage equipment such as loaders, skid-steers and backhoes as well as other equipment like barriers and portable message boards.

This emergency plan was put into action in late July when a mudslide occurred on SR 188. Crews were able to respond quickly and close the road. The heavy equipment they rolled out was able to clear the road of mud. See the photos of our crews working to clear the highway.

The Pathfinder Program came about through FHWA’s Every Day Counts innovation recognition program. It’s designed to keep travelers informed and improve safety, mobility and the movement of goods during storms that impact highways, through enhanced collaboration between FHWA, the National Weather Service, state DOTs and other stakeholders.

You can find more information on the program by going to highways.dot.gov and searching Pathfinder.

It's that time of year again: lots of sunshine, blazing hot weather and the unofficial launch of the summer road-trip season on Memorial Day. But as summer is heating up, ADOT is encouraging all drivers to do their part to prevent wildfires.

This year's wet winter was great for vegetation. However, much of it has now dried out. And that can fuel fires. We've already seen several brush fires along state highways this year. One spark or carelessly tossed cigarette butt could spark a wildfire that takes lots of time, money and resources to put out. It also can close a highway and inconvenience a great many drivers, in addition to endangering people and property. 

That's the message in this YouTube video from a few years back about how we partnered with other agencies on how to spread the word about fire prevention.

Here are some tips we discuss there and are always sharing to help you avoid starting a wildfire with your vehicle: 

• Do not park in tall grass or brush, as heat from under your vehicle can set vegetation on fire.
• Secure your tow chains before heading out to avoid causing sparks.
• Check your tire pressure before you travel. Exposed wheel rims can cause sparks too.
• Heed "Red Flag" warnings. The National Weather Service issues these when conditions are ripe for wildfires.
• Always use a spark arrestor in internal combustion engines;
• Make sure brake pads are to the task so you avoid sparks from metal on metal.
• Do not throw cigarette butts out your vehicle window. Either carry a special fireproof container in your vehicle, or use a half-full water bottle to extinguish them in.

It's also good to remember that this isn't hypothetical. Just this past weekend a human-caused brush fire closed State Route 87 in both directions south of Payson. In April 2017, a vehicle dragging chains started a brush fire on State Roue 87 in the same area. In June 2018 a trailer that was dragging metal sparked several fires along 24 miles of State Route 377 between Heber-Overgaard and Holbrook. Those fires grew into a 5,000-acre wildfire that closed the highway for four days and prompted evacuations.

Preventing wildfires is everyone’s responsibility, especially when operating a vehicle. Let's have a safe season and make sure we don't start wildfires with our vehicles!

Wildfires are an ever-present danger in Arizona. When State Route 80, just outside Bisbee, was determined to be at high risk, ADOT partnered with other state and local agencies to get ahead of wildfire season to mitigate risk factors.

Wildfires have been a particular problem in Arizona in recent years, especially near populated areas. To reduce the risk of even greater wildfires, ADOT joined the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management with 20-person crews to begin chipping brush and broadcasting chips along SR 80 with the intention of reducing the natural fuels to wildfires during the hotter months of the year.

Bisbee Firewise, a community group dedicated to preserving the wildland-urban interface, sponsored the project, while ADOT provided traffic control around the working crews. However, while Bisbee Firewise oversaw the project, ADOT also stepped up to help coordinate communication efforts with the city of Bisbee, Cochise County and local media to ensure that local agencies and the public were informed about the nature of this project.

One challenge the group faced was the shape of the terrain. “The walls of the canyon are such that one side of the highway goes up steeply and the other goes down steeply,” explained ADOT Southeast District Engineer Bill Harmon. “That made it difficult to access and cut down trees. This is the first time people have gone in to remove trees and brush with the purpose of fire mitigation.”

Working in quarter-mile segments, the crews worked tirelessly, always keeping safety and community outreach top-of-mind.

“The risk of fire is now lower,” Harmon said. “It’s better for businesses and the community, but it also just looks nicer now.”

If you drove on a state highway in Arizona last weekend, there’s a good chance you saw wildfire prevention messages on overhead signs.

The messages read, “Parking in tall brush can start a wildfire,” and, “Don’t drag chains, one spark can start a wildfire.”

Some drivers, however, didn’t take the messages seriously. At least two of the 46 brushfires that ignited during the Independence Day weekend (July 4-7) were caused by vehicles that drove off-road and into brush, according to the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

A vehicle’s undercarriage is very hot and when it’s near or in contact with dry shrubs or tall grass, the vegetation can begin to smolder and then ignite, starting a brush fire that can quickly turn into a wildfire.

Already, the number of acres burned this year in Arizona is double compared to last year. Let’s all do our part and follow these tips that can prevent our vehicles from igniting a wildfire:

• Check and secure tow chains, and never substitute parts when towing.
• Make sure nothing is hanging beneath your vehicle and dragging on the pavement.
• Check tire pressure before you travel. Exposed wheel rims can cause sparks.
• Don’t park in tall grass, as the heat from a vehicle’s undercarriage can start a fire.

For more information on how to prevent fires, please visit wildlandfire.az.gov.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

For many, the Wallow Fire of 2011, the largest wildfire in Arizona history, is becoming a distant memory. The fire, which burned from late May until early July, consumed more than 538,000 acres in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico and forced evacuations in a number of communities.

The Arizona Department of Transportation and others concerned about the health of Arizona’s forests and infrastructure have not forgotten, and we’re doing something to reduce the chances of a repeat.

ADOT partnered with the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, the Eastern Arizona Counties Organization and others to launch the Healthy Forest Initiative. To help clear small trees and vegetation that can fuel catastrophic wildfires, the initiative allowed timber industry trucks to carry heavier loads – 90,800 pounds, compared with a statewide limit of 80,000 pounds – on designated roads in eastern Arizona.

We shared recently that the Healthy Forest Initiative is taking another step forward, with logging industry trucks allowed as of Jan. 1, 2020, to carry up to 91,000 pounds if they add a sixth axle to their vehicles. That additional axle, usually a third axle located at the rear of the trailer, will spread out the weight and reduce the potential damage to Arizona roads and bridges. The photo atop this post shows the configuration being used in another state.

The larger loads make it possible for timber companies to continue helping to reduce the risk of large fires. In addition, the area covered by the Healthy Forest Initiative, originally the forest between Payson and the New Mexico, has been has been extended west to Camp Verde and north to Winslow and Holbrook.

The Healthy Forest Initiative also boosts eastern Arizona’s economy and helps protect the watershed.

Most of what we do at ADOT involves things you would expect, like building roads and maintaining bridges. But protecting Arizona’s special environment is important to us too.