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Public safety chiefs tell Payson: prepare now for an earlier, —average to worse-than-average' wildfire season
Summary
Chief Stobb and Assistant Chief Kevin McCauley briefed council on the 2026 wildfire outlook, multiagency response structures, likely season timing and recommended readiness steps including fuel reduction in the 100-foot home ignition zone and signing up for ReadyHILo alerts.
Payson's public safety leadership told the council April 8 that the town sits in a complex northern-forest zone and that this year's wildfire season likely will start earlier but be —average to worse-than-average' in behavior and size.
Public safety director Chief Stobb (speaker 5) and assistant fire chief Kevin McCauley (speaker 21) summarized multi-jurisdictional coordination with Tonto National Forest, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, county partners and mutual-aid units. They said seasonal staffing and national-resource deployments (hotshot/IA crews, engines, helicopter resources) are part of planning and that the Forest Service and incident management teams determine restrictions and resource staging.
Chief Stobb urged residents to sign up for the county's ReadyHILo emergency alerts and to prepare basic mitigation steps at home: "Make your house fire adapted, reduce fuels within a 100 feet of your house," he said, and recommended planning to be out of the house for seven days if evacuated. Councilors asked staff about outreach to residents without internet access and about demonstration programs like neighbor-to-neighbor or formal Firewise activities; staff said they would research options for future agendas and collaboration.
Why it matters: Payson's geography and private-in-holdings pattern inside the national forest create evacuation and resource challenges; early preparation reduces risk to life and to town infrastructure.
What's next: Staff will research neighborhood outreach measures (including neighbor-to-neighbor programs) and report back on potential agenda follow-ups and the symposium mentioned for June.
