Firefighters are conducting both hand and aerial ignitions along preplanned containment lines to assist the lightning-started Pemberton Fire fulfill its natural role of reducing dense forest fuels, according to the Prescott National Forest (PNF).
This tactic is commonly used nowadays by forest managers with natural wildfires as a means of improving the ecosystem’s overall health, PNF said in a news release. As such, smoke from the Pemberton Fire can continue to be expected for an unspecified amount of time.
“Due to smoke impacts, we ask that while traveling on the roads around and near the fire area to use caution for public and firefighter safety,” said Cheyenne Warner, a spokesperson with the PNF.
Warner said that Prescott drivers may experience delays on Fair Oaks Road because of fire traffic and firefighters working along the roadway.