Prevention, preparedness focus of Wildfire Awareness Week in Arizona

Arizona Star (US): Gov. Janet Napolitano is proclaiming this week as Wildfire Awareness Week.

Everyone in Arizona is a steward of the state’s natural resources and shares the responsibility for preventing wildfires and taking the steps necessary to make their own homes as firewise as possible, she said. Wildfire Awareness Week runs from April 21 through April 27.

“By taking simple steps in preparation for the season, and by practicing awareness, we can do a lot toward reducing the size and severity of the wildfire season this year,” said Napolitano in a written statement. Long-term drought, the effects of climate change and insect and disease outbreaks irrevocably changed Arizona’s wilderness areas and created an elevated risk for catastrophic wildfires....

Map of the US highlighting Arizona by "Samulili" (I think), Wikimedia Commons, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation license, Version 1.2