This schedule in not set in stone and can be changed at a moments notice.  It is purely a reference.

September

The Apache-Sitgreaves Forest has issued a report on the effectiveness of fuels treatments in saving homes affected by the Wallow Fire. Wallow_Fuel_Treatment_Effectiveness[1] It is a very interesting report with photos and descriptions of the treated areas. The Wallow Fire is the largest fire in Arizona’s history.

Our fuels projects are designed to be at least as effective as these treatments were. If you have any questions about how you can prepare for wildland fires or what you can do to protect your home from fire, please contact the fire station or look at our fuels program pages.

Event though the “fire season” is over, we have not yet received the precipitation amounts necessary to ensure that the severity of a fire is eliminated completely.

If you would like to request a burn permit, the process has been simplified and standardized for the area served by the Prescott Regional Communications Center including the Groom Creek Fire District. You can simply go to the Burn Permits Page of the City of Prescott website to access the permit application and to report the beginning and ending of the burning each day. Each permit will be active for 30 days and you will only be able to request one or notify us that you will be burning when the fire danger conditions allow.

After the 30 day period has passed, you will have to re-apply. We hope this makes it easier for everyone. If you do not have internet access you can stop by the fire station and request a burn permit at the station. It will still need to be completed online.

We are now 2 years into our 3 year grant from the Arizona State Forestry Division.  The focus of this grant is new treatments on private land in the Spruce Mountain and Mt. Tritle areas of our district.  Up until now a large amount of the work that has been done has been maintenance treatments in lower Groom Creek.  We are at a point where funding has been exhausted for these maintenance treatments and we now are going to be unable to offer these services at the 90% discounted rate.  

• Cost will now be full price. Contact Neal or Jeff at the fire station for an estimate.
• The crew will be completing all raking jobs that have been requested before 7/24/11 at the discounted rate.
• Dumpsters are still going to be offered at our fire station free of charge.
• Time frames for these jobs will be very extended.  If you are interested in getting your yard raked sooner than later, feel free to call the fire station.  A few of our personnel are interested in doing these jobs for you on the side. 
• We are continually applying for more grants to provide our community with the best services and lowest prices available.

If you live in the Spruce Mountain or Mount Tritle areas, we would love to talk to you about the services that we can offer under this program.

Thank you all for your patience and support with all of our fuels projects.  We are very proud of or community for being so proactive with defensible space and wildfire safety.  If you have any questions feel free to fill out a fuels request form.

Effective at 0800 on Wednesday May 11, the Groom Creek Fire District will be entering Fire Restrictions that mirror the restrictions taking effect on County, State and Federal lands in the Prescott area. These restrictions will cancel all outstanding burn permits. More details will be added.

At the Groom Creek Firewise Day, we made a special dedication of the Groom Creek Park to one of our original Pinehurst Estates volunteer firefighters and long-time Board Member, Mr. Jack Maze. The park will now be known as “Jack Maze Park” and has a very nice granite plaque commemorating Mr. Maze’s service to this community. Mr. Maze passed away last October and is survived by his wife Helen. The Groom Creek Firefighter’s Association and the District are proud to make this dedication in his name.

Yavapai County Emergency Management has a web tool to enter your contact information in order to be notified in the event of an emergency. The County site has the ability to entercontact information for email, cell phone, office phone, fax and text message notifications. You can also enter any special medical needs and pets at your location for emergency responders to know.

Currently, the Fire District Dispatch office uses a reverse 911 system that only contacts land line phone numbers. With this new technology from the County, we can provide the proper notification to our community when an emergency happens. Please visit the website and get registered as soon as possible.

Emergency Notification System Link