For at least three decades desert wildfires have been popping up in and around the Fountain Hills and community officials have long recognized the urban/wildland interface character of the town.
The communities of Rio Verde and Tonto Verde, spooked by the potential of the Rio Fire in 1995 have been certified as Firewise USA communities for more than a decade.
There is some difficulty in organizing a Firewise effort in a larger incorporated town like Fountain Hills, but recently some homeowners’ associations in Fountain Hills are making the effort to get their subdivisions certified as Firewise. SunRidge Canyon received its certification late last year and the Morningside HOA has been working with Arizona Department of Foresty and Fire Management (DFFM) to qualify for its certification. The efforts in both neighborhoods have been ongoing for some time, but the recent devastation by wildfires in Los Angeles has certainly provided some incentive to step up the effort.
