Multiple wildfires in the Wickenburg and Wittmann-areas spur the Department of Forestry and Fire Management to investigate further the factors leading to an uptick in fire activity in Northwestern Maricopa County.
In the past month, the department has responded to three fires, the Painted Wagon, Forest, and Patton incidents, located within areas that historically do not see much fire activity.
So this week, DFFM sent an agency fire behavior analyst to Wickenburg and Wittmann to evaluate the burn areas and conditions, including the vegetation and human factors.
“Winter and spring moisture has led to a significant amount of grass growth throughout the Sonoran Desert, which includes the Wickenburg and Wittmann areas. In the past, people may have been able to conduct outdoor activities, and if a fire were to start, they were able to suppress it themselves with a hose or other water source.