The Hazen Fire near Buckeye, Arizona, was 78% contained Thursday morning after burning 1,191 acres in five days. Crews said the blaze stayed within its existing fire perimeter.
Arizona Department of Forestry officials said salt cedar trees have been one of the biggest challenges in fighting the fire. The trees grow in thick, dense stands and ignite easily, then throw off intense heat and thick black smoke that can cut visibility for ground crews and air support. On Sunday, a helicopter made 87 bucket drops and delivered about 20,000 gallons of water to help firefighters on the east end of the fire.
Richard Schmidt II, who has warned about the danger of salt cedar, said the trees are fire-resistant and have adapted to survive fires. He said they also sprout back quickly after a fire and become more dominant than native plants. In his words, it is “almost like putting a whole bunch of matches along the river. As soon as it gets lit up, it goes into the leaves.”
The problem goes beyond this blaze. Salt cedar is a non-native species that crowds out native vegetation, and Schmidt said it consumes about 200 gallons of water per day, leaving less water downstream. Since 2020, former Buckeye Mayor Jackie Meck and former U.S. Senator Martha McSally have been pushing to remove salt cedar through the DRIP Act, a fight that the fire has now put back in sharp focus near Buckeye.
Firefighters did not need to continue preemptive burning operations near containment lines on Tuesday, and officials said fire behavior did not threaten those lines. That is the clearest sign yet that crews are gaining control, but the same vegetation that helped the fire spread is still what makes the river corridor so hard to secure.
The next step is straightforward: keep the perimeter from moving and push toward full containment. Until the salt cedar is dealt with, the risk near Buckeye does not end when the flames quiet down.
