Firefighters home from wildfires – for now

Firefighters from the Maricopa Fire Department are getting a respite from their deployments to wildfires across the state, including the colossal Wallow fire in northeastern Arizona and New Mexico.

Though they are all home in Maricopa this weekend, it is likely they could redeployed as the fires continue to burn.

Brad Pitassi, MFD firefighter and senior public information officer, was one of those called out. He came home last weekend after serving a 14-day deployment at Wallow.

“The portion we were fighting was in the process of being contained when we left,” Pitassi said. “We were lucky that there wasn’t much wind and we are able to make progress with it.”

Though it is 70 percent contained, windy conditions forecasted for later this weekend could spread the fire.

 

So far, there have been almost 3,000 in total personnel deployed to the state’s wildfires. Fifteen firefighters have been injured, 32 homes have been destroyed and 36 outlying buildings have burned. The Wallow blaze has consumed nearly 550,000 acres.

 

Pitassi said there are two more fires that have broken out that may draw more deployments. Nearly 1,200 firefighters on 29 crews have been assigned to the Monument wildfire near Sierra Vista in Cochise County. In the last two days, The Heber-Overgaard fire near the Mogollon Rim in the White Mountains has burned nearly 2,000 acres.

“It’s just so dry out there,” Pitassi said. “We’re home for now, but we’re ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

Last year, there were no deployments to wildfires and Pitassi said he hasn’t seen a season this active in years. He is also worried about the forthcoming monsoon season, when lightning strikes begin posing another risk to the current environment.