As temperatures heat up and grasses in the southern portion of the state dry out, the Department of Forestry and Fire Management implemented stage 1 fire restrictions for southern Arizona effective May 24.

The restrictions went into place on state-owned and managed lands within Cochise, Greenlee, Graham, La Paz, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, and Yuma counties, including to adjacent to Apache Junction.

“It is only May and yet, two large wildfires have already consumed more than 50,000 acres in southern Arizona. The temperatures are only going to warm up from here and continue to dry out the fuels in that area. We need to be proactive and unfortunately we must put fire restrictions in place now,” State Forester Jeff Whitney said in a press release.

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