National Fire Plan Success Story
Prescott National Forest's Collaborative Efforts to Reduce the Threats from Wildfires In Groom Creek
Bradshaw Ranger District, Prescott National Forest, Arizona
2008
The Indian Fire of 2002 blackened approximately 1,300 acres and destroyed or damaged six homes along the southern edge of Prescott, Arizona. Approximately two miles east of the ignition point for the Indian Fire lies the small community of Groom Creek. Groom Creek was not immediately threatened by the Indian Fire, but with a shift in the wind and a rogue firebrand, it too could have been a focal point for evacuations and possible devastation.
The community of Groom Creek is located just south of Prescott, Arizona and is surrounded by tall pines and massive oaks growing on the Bradshaw Ranger District in the Prescott National Forest. Historically, the area was a mining venture that played an important role in development of the greater Prescott Basin. Today it is the locale for 500 plus homes, summer retreats and 9 secular youth camps.
Prior to the Indian Fire, the Bradshaw Ranger District had identified the greater Prescott Basin, including the Groom Creek areas, as a Wildland Urban Interface that was an extreme threat to wildfires. The planning process and some treatments had been initiated, but the Indian Fire placed a higher level of urgency in implementation of treatments on the Bradshaw Ranger District and private lands.
An area that was treated in the Groom Creek area.
Since 2002, most of the Prescott National Forest lands adjacent to Groom Creek have been commercially harvested, precommercially thinned and prescribed burned. In conjunction with these efforts, Chief Todd Bentley, Groom Creek Fire Department, has worked with Bradshaw Ranger District personnel to coordinate use of logging contractors and their equipment to thin overstocked stands of trees on private lands and youth camps. Working together to implement treatments has made it possible to protect "both sides of the fence" with one entry while reducing impacts to the public and forest resources.
Whispering Pines is one of the youth camps located in the Groom Creek area. It is also one of the areas where treatments occurred on "both sides of the fence." On the right is a picture of the area after treatment.
Contact: Ed Paul, (928) 777-5665.