PINAL COUNTY, AZ — ABC15 is revisiting a concern for you about dried brush and the fire dangers.
We first heard from George Garcia earlier this month asking who's responsible for the brush around his property especially if a fire breaks out.
Pinal County and Superstition Fire and Medical tell ABC15 they've been, "Receiving calls from residents regarding vegetation control and fire safety." The county emphasizing clearing vegetation is up to whomever owns the land.
If it’s your land, Scottsdale Fire Chief Tom Shannon says education is key.
“The reality is that we have to manage the fuels that are adjacent to our developments. We have to hold our developers, our contractors accountable to safe practices while building. We have to work with the community and educate them on how to establish defendable spaces. There’s a lot of programming we can offer. And then we have to have the resources to be able to go out and enforce code, make sure that the prevention efforts are taking place and then respond to those efforts," said Shannon.
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You can find parcel maps, like this one from Pinal County by going to their website.
You can also report brush on the side of the road here.
Pinal county tells ABC15, clearing brush it can be done same day but usually takes a week.
“When the request is put in for vegetation control, it goes to the local maintenance crew. They do an assessment and, depending on the severity, it can be made a higher priority and be done the same day. But on average, it usually takes about a week or so.”
As for George Garcia, it's taking a little bit longer.
Central Arizona Project tells ABC15, “We will be out there for a site inspection on Friday. In the meantime, we have been in touch with George Garcia who we believe made the original request regarding the vegetation out there. We have discussed with him that we want to maximize our efforts to address any efforts before fire season starts. He’s a former firefighter and agrees with that plan.”
