News

Arizona Public Service, local agencies promote preparedness for Southwest Wildfire Awareness Week

As part of Southwest Wildfire Awareness Week, Arizona Public Service (APS) teamed up with local public safety agencies this year to educate the public on how to prepare for and prevent wildfires and broadcast its own preparedness strategies.

For the individual customer, APS recommended four tips, including:

  1. Remove overgrown vegetation, trash, or debris around the home, poles, or other electrical equipment on the property
  2. Make a plan and emergency contacts while readying a go-kit with items, including non-perishable food, water, flashlights, batteries, and a portable cell phone charger
  3. Update contact information with APS to get current updates
  4. Utilize either the APS app or APS Outage Center with an online account to receive text or email alerts and safety tips in case of outages

“Each year, we see fire risk grow from the mountains deeper into urban areas. Wildfire seasons are becoming more and more unpredictable, and it’s important we all do our part to keep communities safe,” Wade Ward, APS Fire Mitigation Supervisor, said. “At APS, we work hand-in-hand with firefighters, develop plans to reduce fire risk, make upgrades to keep our grid resilient, and partner with homeowners and businesses to be prepared.”

The majority of work will happen at the corporate level, though. For APS, this takes the form of partnerships with firefighters and year-round maintenance work to reduce wildfire risk to communities in its service area. Attention is often on forested areas in northern Arizona, the company noted, but the locales where wildland meets urban sprawl face their fire risks as well.

Internally, APS’s fire preparedness efforts include:

  • Inspecting more than 18,000 miles of power lines and clearing overgrown vegetation
  • Clearing at least 10 feet of defensible space around infrastructure, poles, and substations in wildland-urban connecting areas
  • Creating emergency preparedness plans alongside emergency response agencies
  • Installing advanced power grid technology to better manage wildfire risks
  • Modernizing outage restoration protocols

During fires themselves, the company warned that it might also temporarily take power lines out of service to protect both firefighters and APS crews inspecting the lines and working to remove vegetation or potential hazards.

Chris Galford

Recent Posts

Natural gas meter replacements coming to Jefferson City, Missouri

After 20 years, Ameren Missouri will upgrade natural gas meters throughout Jefferson City, Mo., this spring, switching to modules that…

1 day ago

U.S. Departments of Energy and Labor release national guidelines for battery machine apprentices

In a joint effort, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Labor (DOL) released National Guideline Standards for the Battery…

1 day ago

NARUC issues new report for state commissioners on EV infrastructure funding program

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) released a report to help state commissions on their roles related to…

1 day ago

Entergy Louisiana lays out strategic blueprint for building its electric infrastructure

Entergy Louisiana has developed a strategic blueprint for building new electric infrastructure that meets the needs of its service territory.…

1 day ago

Limestone Ridge Project brings greater reliability to Southeast Missouri

In collaboration with Wabash Valley Power Alliance (WVPA), Ameren Transmission finished work on the Limestone Ridge Project at the end…

2 days ago

Consumers Energy partners with Muskegon County for 250 MW solar facility in Michigan

Beginning in April, Consumers Energy of Michigan, the Muskegon County Resource Recovery Center, and Moorland Township will work together to…

2 days ago

This website uses cookies.