Firefighters to begin work on fuelbreak project to help protect community in Oak Creek Canyon

SEDONA, Ariz., June 26, 2025 — Firefighters will begin a hand thinning fuelbreak project tomorrow around the community of Indian Gardens in Oak Creek Canyon which will complement previous fuels treatments in the area and increase defensible space around public and private land.

This shaded fuelbreak project will help fire managers establish control lines for future fire management decisions and expand the areas between homes and vegetation. In turn, this will help reduce the threat of a wildfire damaging or destroying homes and allow firefighters to safely defend the Indian Gardens community.

Fuelbreaks are somewhat different than firebreaks, in that a fuelbreak is a strip of land where flammable vegetation has been removed and less hazardous vegetation is retained. A firebreak is an strip of land where vegetation is completely removed and absent, where only bare soil exists.

Additionally, shaded fuelbreaks are used in forested areas where firefighters thin the trees and vegetation, as well as remove lower branches and understory of taller trees to help keep fire from moving up the tree like a ladder and into the crowns.

Residents in the area can expect to see firefighters with chainsaws cutting and piling brush that will be burned at a later date, with work continuing intermittently throughout the rest of the year. For questions regarding this project, please contact Fire Management Specialist Aaron Graeser at aaron.graeser@usda.gov.