Arizona
Arizona crews assist efforts to extinguish raging wildfires in California
(Pinion Pine Fire District photos)
PHOENIX – It’s been all hands on deck battling the southern California wildfires.
The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management has been called to help and their task force members are speaking on the tragedy they have seen just one state over.
Arizona task forces give ‘everything we had’
Why you should care:
As you can imagine, this is an extremely tough assignment.
Long days and a lot of smoke.
Battalion Chief Rich Jones spoke about some of the hardest parts of the job.
What they’re saying:
“So current situation is we’re on day 19,” he said. “We were a part of the initial attack group that handled the Eaton Fire. We were there for 12 days giving the folks of Altadena everything we had.”
Jones was there from the beginning and he’s leading one of the eight Arizona task forces sent to California.
Jones says the most difficult part wasn’t the manual labor.
“There’s thousands of folks that lost everything and so emotionally, it’s hard to detach and stay focused on your job and continue to produce the production and quality you need with that much emotion. That was definitely the hardest part. Our heartstrings were pulled left and right out here,” he said.
By the numbers:
He is one of 150 Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management personnel supporting California.
Most crews are staged to pick up any initial starts.
One task force is currently assigned to the Palisades Fire and the eighth task force was sent early this morning.
“The exposure that we get battling (fires) all across the Pacific Northwest and all over the world is beneficial to our citizens of Arizona,” said Jones. We may not deal with the complexity of the wildland urban interface here, but coming here and grabbing that exposure helps us to be more alert and more prepared for what we have at home.”
What’s next:
Home is where his task force is headed early next week after an exhausting, yet rewarding 21 days.
“I’m looking forward to getting home. It’s been a long 21 days and I miss my family. You know, these are precious scraps of time that we trade away from our family for the wildland community to be here because there’s not a lot of us, but we do rally and come together when it’s needed the most,” he said.
Jones says his task force will have a mandatory two days of rest after their 21st day and it’s possible they could pull another 21-day shift in California, if needed.
Cardinals’ Burch shares what he learned as a rookie in 2025
Arizona Cardinals second-year player Jordan Burch says his defensive line teammates have formed a bond heading into the 2026 NFL season.
Last year in early July, Cardinals edge rusher Jordan Burch was a rookie third-round draft pick out of Oregon who was looking forward to his first NFL training camp and eventual first season.
That rookie year is behind him now, and Burch has identified what he needs to improve on heading into his second season. He said he now knows what to expect and look for, and after talking with outside linebackers coach Matt Feeney, Burch built an offseason plan with which he was comfortable.
“I don’t think anything was like a surprise,” Burch said on Thursday, July 9, at the Cardinals’ Tempe headquarters. “I kind of know what to prep for, so this offseason I can look at my old plays, and then I can call my coach and tell him, from last year to this year, what does he want to see on the field.”
Burch seeks to improve his pass rush. He played in all 17 games last season and had five solo tackles with a sack, and also broke up three passes.
Much of his position was dropping into pass coverage, so Burch looks to recognize pass catchers’ routes better in 2026. He gets help from veteran Josh Sweat, who is there to answer questions about the position they share.
“Every week, every game going against somebody good,” Burch said about takeaways from last season. “The talent of the quarterbacks. We’re playing the Rams, how quickly they get the ball out.”
Burch looks forward to building a stronger bond with his teammates, having invited some of them for dinner or to watch TV. He said he was happy with his progress as a player throughout last season.
The Cardinals open training camp Wednesday, July 22, at State Farm Stadium. It’s a week earlier than most teams because Arizona plays the Carolina Panthers in the Aug. 6 Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio.
Cardinals legend Larry Fitzgerald will be among those inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Aug. 8.
A new study has ranked Arizona as one of the worst states to move to for two years in a row, largely due to what it calls a poor quality of life.
The study conducted by Consumer Affairs analyzed the best states to move to in the United States, putting Arizona at the bottom of the list.
Before Arizonans get too defensive about the Grand Canyon State, Consumer Affairs used factors such as affordability, safety, economic strength and education to measure each state, leaving out factors like entertainment, retirement benefits and other considerations that may be important to people living here.
Popular states such as California and New York also landed at the bottom of the list due to their lack of affordability, even though they both have some of the best health care and education in the nation, Consumer Affairs noted.
Here’s why the study says you shouldn’t move to Arizona. Do you agree?
Why you shouldn’t move to Arizona
Arizona ranked No. 10 out of the worst states to move to, scoring especially poorly in quality of life.
Quality of life was measured by the state’s Social Progress Index, average air quality, weather, environmental protection and number of national parks. Due to Arizona’s extreme summers and Phoenix’s consistently poor air quality, it’s easy to see why Arizona ranked No. 44 in quality of life out of 50 states, even though the Grand Canyon is one of the most popular national parks in the nation.
However, Arizona also ranked poorly in other categories, sitting at No. 42 in health care and education, No. 41 in safety and No. 34 in affordability out of 50 states.
There was one category Arizona did impressively well in, ranking No. 5 in economic strength even as one of the youngest states in the country. Still, Arizona’s economic power wasn’t enough to boost its ranking.
Top 10 worst states to move to
Arizona wasn’t alone; some of the biggest states in the country were also considered the worst states to move to in 2026.
- New Mexico
- Louisiana
- California
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Nevada
- Alaska
- Mississippi
- Oregon
- Arizona
Top 10 best states to move to
- Utah
- New Hampshire
- Idaho
- Minnesota
- Massachusetts
- Maine
- North Dakota
- Pennsylvania
- Iowa
- South Dakota
PHOENIX — Arizona’s ACA marketplace enrollment fell from 363,000 to just over 255,000 in a single year — a nearly 30% decline and the third-largest annual drop in the country.
Rising premiums and expired tax credits are driving the trend, with the average benchmark plan premium in Arizona now at $532 — up 30% from 2025.
In the player above, ABC15 Data Analyst Garrett Archer takes a look inside the numbers on how healthcare premiums are impacting health insurance enrollment.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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