Arizona forest officials warn of abandoned campfires being found in restricted areas

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management says they’ve come across several abandoned campfires still burning in restricted areas.

Officials said they could have led to a catastrophe if they didn’t find them and put them out.

In total, 10 were in areas already under Stage 1 Fire Restrictions. In addition, all were east of Apache Junction in various areas of state land. Some were just off dirt roads but others were in rural regions.

There were all found with no signs of someone attempting to put them out.

According to forest officials, campfires have caused many wildfires not just in Arizona but across the western part of the country.

Authorities are emphasizing they will be out and about enforcing these restrictions this summer.

“We’ve got prevention patrols going on throughout Arizona. You know, we’re trying to make sure that people are abiding by restrictions, but we’re just asking residents again to be mindful of those restrictions. They won’t last forever. We put them in place to be proactive so we can decrease the amount of starts across the state and for the protection of our firefighters and the public as well,” said Tiffany Davila, an Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management spokesperson.

Breaking these restrictions is not just a minor offense. It can lead to hefty fines and potentially jail time.

Last year, a Tucson man was fined a staggering $180,000 for starting a wildfire while target shooting.

State officials say so far that 50,000 acres have burned this year, which is twice the amount than this time last year.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.