Senate Bill 1075 which goes into effect July 1 gives State Forester Steve Hunt the authority to preposition air tankers, tactical surveillance aircraft, helicopters from the Arizona Department of Public Safety and National Guard, and 20-person inmate firefighting crews. These resources would supplement initial attack crews and help provide aggressive early suppression efforts on emerging wildfires.
The legislation requires that by February 15 of each year the State Forester develop a plan for the deployment of municipal and fire district resources for wildfire suppression and prescribed fires. The plan should take into account the anticipated fire conditions and may include the prepositioning of these resources.
Last year the firefighting agencies in Arizona were tested and experienced the largest fire in the state’s history, the Wallow fire, which burned 538,049 acres.