The Pinal County Board of Supervisors held a work session on Thursday, March 13, to address fire risk and management capabilities across the county. The meeting, led by Supervisor Jeff Serdy, brought together fire chiefs, emergency management officials, and other stakeholders to discuss preparedness in the wake of January’s devastating wildfires in Southern California.
California Wildfire Concerns Prompt Local Assessment
The recent Southern California wildfires, which killed 29 people and destroyed over 18,000 homes between January 7-31, have sparked concerns among Pinal County residents. These concerns have been amplified on social media platforms like Nextdoor, where residents wondered if similar devastation could happen in Arizona.
“Social media can be a good thing for communicating but it can also be a bad thing when the fear gets out of hand,” Supervisor Serdy noted. “We wanted to find out is it going to happen here or are we better prepared? I feel we are better prepared and we have the folks in this room to show that we are.”
Serdy emphasized that while recent rain provides temporary relief, vigilance remains necessary. “April showers bring May flowers, well any showers in Arizona bring weeds later, so we may have weeds left over this summer from what’s happening right now,” he warned.
One key difference Serdy highlighted was the reliability of firefighting water infrastructure compared to Southern California. “In Southern California, they turned on hydrants and there was possibly no water there,” Serdy explained. “I feel that our area is much better suited for that, especially in the Superstition fire district where they do testing of the hydrants.”
Fire Risk Forecast
Tom Torres, Director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Management, delivered a sobering assessment of the upcoming fire season, predicting it could be more severe than last year.
“Even though we got the little bit of rain right now, the Fire season is shaping up to be more significant than previous years,” Torres said. “Last year was a relatively significant year across the State of Arizona with about 2,100 fires burning about 280,000 acres, which is a little bit higher than average, but we’re gearing up for a more significant Fire season than last year.”
Torres mentioned that the largest wildfire in Arizona last year—the Freeman fire—occurred just north of Oracle in Pinal County, suggesting the region should prepare for similar challenges this year.
Insurance Concerns and Mitigation Efforts
Insurance availability has emerged as a major concern for residents, with parallels drawn to California where many homeowners saw policies canceled.
“We tried to get insurance companies here because one of the questions is ‘they’re going to cancel my insurance like they are doing in Southern California’ and no one would come, which is kind of telling,” Serdy noted.
Serdy shared his personal experience with fire prevention and insurance: “My insurance company actually came and inspected my house and they told me certain brush that they would like to see away from my house, which I did it or else they would have possibly canceled me.”
Torres provided information about the recently established Resiliency and Mitigation Council, created by the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions in December 2024. The council is investigating insurance availability and affordability in forested areas and wildland-urban interface areas of Arizona.
“The state has convened a group called the resiliency and mitigation Council and we’re meeting monthly with the insurance officials and fire leaders from across the state and other other folks to really understand what are those mitigations that matter and what will make a difference for homeowners and property owners,” Torres explained.
Firewise Communities: The “Gold Standard” for Wildfire Protection
A significant portion of the meeting focused on the Firewise program, which Superstition Fire & Medical District Chief John Whitney described as “the gold standard of community Wildfire preparedness and protection.”
Firewise is a national recognition program administered by the National Fire Protection Association that helps communities organize, plan, and take action to reduce wildfire risks. The program requires communities to form a volunteer board or committee, create an action plan based on a wildfire risk assessment, complete annual risk reduction activities, and document their efforts.
“I view firewise as the gold standard of community Wildfire preparedness and protection,” Chief Whitney emphasized. “We do a lot of work regarding defensible space, Wildland hazardous fuel reduction, Etc, and we provide our communities with options to address those concerns through multiple methods.”
Whitney explained that Firewise certification involves collaboration between homeowners associations, fire resources, and fire districts to guide people through the process. The program focuses on creating defensible space around homes and reducing wildland fire fuels.
For homeowners not in an HOA, Whitney assured that fire departments would provide individual assessments: “If you don’t have a homeowners association, if you do have concerns about the Wildfire aspects of your home, give a call to your local fire department. They’ll typically send somebody out to do a review and make recommendations of best practices of what you can do.”
Jurisdictional Responsibilities for Vegetation Management
The meeting addressed questions about who is responsible for managing vegetation in different areas. Supervisor Serdy noted concerns from social media: “One of the questions that came up on social media was the washes are brushy, whose responsibility is it to clean them? Is it the county? They want, they expected us to do it, but they were in HOAs.”
Supervisor Rich Vitiello raised concerns about vegetation in Union Pacific Railroad rights-of-way, which Community Development Director Brent Billingsley explained are difficult to access due to special protections dating back to the 1800s.
For properties with owners who don’t live there, Billingsley noted that the county’s code enforcement program can address issues: “The RTD (Rubbish, Trash, and Debris) process is intended to quickly move on complaints and deal with those complaints specifically for rubbish trash and debris, of which weeds would be part of that, and allows the county to go out and clean up that property if the owner is unwilling and then we place a lien on the property,” Billingsley explained.
Emergency Notification System (PENS)
Pinal County Emergency Manager Kore Redden provided details about the county’s emergency notification system, PENS (Pinal Emergency Notification System). The system allows officials to target alerts geographically to ensure that only affected residents receive evacuation notices.
Redden addressed concerns about notification fatigue, explaining, “We don’t just send out [alerts] because we want to. We don’t want that fatigue of notification.” She emphasized that PENS alerts are only issued when requested by on-scene emergency officials.
When registering for PENS, residents can select which types of alerts they wish to receive—such as floods, thunderstorms, fire weather, and dust storms—and provide information about special assistance needs.
Vice-Chairman Jeff McClure asked about the system’s ability to target specific areas: “Can you also in certain areas geo-fence it down to a street when you do text and calls?” Redden confirmed this capability, stating they can target alerts “to a house” if needed, allowing for sequential evacuation to prevent traffic congestion.
Ready, Set, Go Program
Redden explained the Ready, Set, Go program, a nationwide evacuation framework adopted in Arizona:
“Ready means you got to get ready, things are happening in your area. Set means start packing up, get ready to go. Go is evacuate,” Redden explained. “The ones that are in charge of making sure evacuation happens is our law enforcement officials, and they’re going to tell me where we are evacuating out of.”
Animal Evacuation Planning
The work session also addressed animal evacuation, with Animal Care and Control Director Audra Michael noting that people are often reluctant to leave their properties without their pets.
Supervisor Serdy also stated that “When these fires happen, it seems like the horse community has a system down. There are different organizations and they rally with trailers.”
For larger animals, Pinal County Fairgrounds and Apache Junction Rodeo Grounds have been established as evacuation sites. Apache Junction Mayor Chip Wilson explained: “Years ago we set up a system involved with the county that if there is a fire that we have to evacuate large animals, we work with the Pinal County fairgrounds and establishing where they can go.”
However, Michael identified gaps in the system for household pets, as “Red Cross does not allow animals to come with,” creating challenges for evacuating families. She proposed working with schools and community centers to use their facilities as temporary animal shelters during emergencies.
“Mass amounts of kennels would definitely be needed,” Michael added, encouraging residents not to discard kennels but to “fold them up and put them in the garage” or donate them to Animal Control.
Fire Causes and Prevention
Serdy emphasized human behavior as a significant risk factor for wildfires: “How many times do fires get started by a cigarette going out the window?”
He also warned about mechanical sources of ignition: “Be aware of just pulling off with your catalytic converters, and anytime if you’re driving along at night and you see sparks where a trailer chains are underneath hanging—all of those things can, before you know it, you’ve got 100,000 acres burned up.”
Debris Removal Challenges
The meeting addressed the challenge of debris disposal after vegetation clearing. Vice-Chairman Jeff McClure described Oracle’s struggle with managing cleared vegetation: “so now you’ve cleared this off, what do you do with it?” McClure explained that Oracle’s fire department set up a designated drop-off area on the west end of town for debris, but that created another problem: “They’ve got this big pile of debris, what do you do? For a while the fire district would burn it… and they couldn’t keep up with the flow of the volume.”
McClure mentioned efforts to acquire an air curtain destroyer (a smokeless incinerator) for Oracle through congressionally directed spending funds, highlighting that “that’s a problem is that you get it and you have all this debris and people can’t afford to get rid of it.”
The mayor of Superior, Mila Besich, offered a solution: “We own an air curtain burner… I’m sure our Public Works crew would be willing to work with anyone in the county if it’s a matter of moving brush over to Superior because we don’t burn all year long.”
Torres acknowledged this challenge: “Another option is to chip it and haul it away. That comes with money, you know, it costs a little bit of money.” He mentioned that the Department of Forestry and Fire Management uses inmate crews with chippers to process vegetation debris.
Building on this, Supervisor Vitiello inquired about the possibility of using inmate labor for cleanup efforts: “Is there any possibility like for cleanup that we can work with the sheriff’s department…if it’s renting chippers and having the inmates come and clean?”
A representative from the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office indicated they would investigate the possibility, noting that such an arrangement would require proper inmate classification and supervision.
Torres mentioned that the Department of Forestry and Fire Management already operates such a program: “At DFFM we have a contract with the Department of Corrections for 19×20 person crews, that’s 380 persons. About half is devoted to fighting Wildfire, the other half is devoted to mitigating fire risk.” He explained that these crews are equipped with chippers and help with vegetation management throughout the state.
Looking Ahead
With increased coordination between agencies and community involvement through programs like Firewise, county officials expressed confidence in their ability to manage fire risks despite predictions of a more severe fire season.
The Board of Supervisors indicated that additional meetings might be held to address outstanding questions and further develop the county’s fire management strategy. Fire officials encouraged residents to take personal responsibility by creating defensible space around their homes, signing up for PENS, and participating in Firewise programs.
As Torres summarized about the forecasted fire season: “Pinal County—we’re all going to be busy this year.”
