The 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires devastated the Los Angeles area, causing death and destroying thousands of structures. Along with Canada, Mexico and other states, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management sent multiple crews to assist with the process of containing the blazes. But as those fires are tamed and the process of rebuilding begins, some Phoenicians are left with a troubling thought — could a catastrophe like the California wildfires happen in Phoenix or Maricopa County?
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Tiffany Davila, public affairs officer for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, says the department ensures that Metro Phoenix is well prepared for any wildfires that may erupt in the city. Controlled mitigation burns, she continues, help suppress the breakout of fires. The communities most at-risk are on the outskirts of the Valley, largely in suburban areas, because of the greater amount of vegetation, which is why many mitigation efforts are concentrated there.
“We don’t wait until fire season to start doing prescribed fire projects or hazardous fuels reduction projects. We’re doing this throughout the year,” Davila says. “We’re trying to be proactive, not reactive.”
A team effort
Beyond prescribed burns, fuel mitigation strategies include community outreach to increase the impact of the department’s institutional efforts. There are many measures that homeowners and Arizona residents can take to reduce the risk of fires, which is why Davila says that community collaboration is vital to success in fire prevention.
“We don’t want to wait for [civilians] to come to us, because sometimes that’s too late. We know where [areas of high fire risk] are,” Davila says. “We are getting into those communities. We’re trying to bring these HOAs on board the Firewise USA, because that program is a grassroots effort for those residents. It helps them collaborate as homeowners, as one unit, to clear and create defensible space, not only around their property, but around their whole community.”
Ron Coleman, senior communication officer for Maricopa County Emergency Management, agrees that there are many ways that homeowners can protect their homes that amplify the efforts made by agencies.
“We work with those jurisdictions that are more at risk, but in terms of wildfire prevention, make sure you have a defensible space around your home. Make sure you’ve cleared away the brush that is next to your house,” Coleman says.
Emergency preparedness, he continues, does not just include taking steps to reduce the risk of fire, but having a plan of action in the case of an emergency. While Arizona does not experience natural disasters such as tornadoes or hurricanes that afflict other parts of the country, there are extreme weather events that can cause death and destruction of property. Maricopa County’s website lists wildfires as the first of five emergency weather situations in the county. The following four include dust storms, extreme heat, flooding and monsoons.
“The most important thing for everyone is keeping people safe. Property can be replaced. People can’t be,” Coleman says.
According to the Arizona Forestry and Fire Management website, “there is no ‘wildfire season’ anymore in Arizona. Fires can happen year-round. We stress the importance of prevention. We all need to work together to reduce wildfire risk across our great state.”
This emphasis by Arizona’s authorities underscores that fire mitigation and overall prevention efforts should not be a one-sided initiative. Fires are largely started by human-related causes — and made worse from neglecting to take preventative measures — so homeowners and residents must work with agencies to prevent ignition.
Environmental factors
While the threat of wildfires is always present in a drought-stricken state such as Arizona, year-specific changes in weather and precipitation levels can also affect the risk.
“The lack of monsoon activity, the warmer than normal temperatures in October, November, December — even now — and the lack of precipitation all play a role in what our fire season could look like in the next couple of months,” Davila says.
Undoubtedly, Maricopa County and Phoenix can experience wildfires that cause destruction and uproot lives. But should Valley residents be worried about a conflagration at the scale of what happened in the Los Angeles area?
“The point-blank answer is no,” Coleman concludes. “When you look at our topography and the way we’re built as a metro area, it’s just not possible.”
Bonus information: Public Safety Power Shutoff
Brian Kelley, APS supervisor of fire mitigation, says that there are multiple pillars to APS’s strategy regarding fire prevention and the prevention of Phoenix wildfires. But one of the newest APS efforts is the Public Safety Power Shutoff tool. According to APS, “a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) is defined as the temporary shutoff of electric service within specific areas when extreme weather and other environmental conditions create a highly elevated fire risk. It serves to prevent wildfire ignition from tree strikes, downed wires, equipment failures, or other events exacerbated by adverse environmental conditions.”
Yessica Del Rincón, a communications consultant for APS, says that the company has not needed to activate the PSPS tool yet since it will only be used in dire situations. Its lack of activation does not diminish its validity as a tool, however. Residents affected by the outages are given four-day notice before the shutoff occurs. The PSPS tool would affect residences and businesses, but Kelley assures that power would be restored to affected areas after approximately 20 hours. The tool is similar to those used in other states, which have been successfully implemented.
