A U.S. Forest Service team has started evaluating land affected by the Pocket Fire for potential flooding, debris flows and other post-fire hazards.
The Burned Area Emergency Response team is conducting field surveys and assessing the severity of the burned landscape. The work is intended to determine whether conditions created by the fire pose unacceptable risks to people, property, cultural sites, natural resources and other values on National Forest System lands.
The assessment was announced July 15, 2026, in a Forest Service release distributed by Coconino National Forest Public Affairs. The Pocket Fire response team is led by Paul Brown.
## Mapping soil burn severity
One of the team’s first tasks is to develop a Soil Burn Severity map. Team members gather information in the field and use scientific models to evaluate how the fire affected soils across the burned area.
That map provides a foundation for examining possible watershed impacts. Depending on burn conditions, wildfire-affected land can face increased potential for flooding, sediment movement, debris flows and rockfall. The assessment will identify where those hazards could threaten National Forest System lands and resources.
The team will analyze the information collected during its surveys before determining whether emergency stabilization measures should be recommended. Any recommendations would be aimed at reducing risks found to be unacceptable.
## Specialists contribute to review
Burned Area Emergency Response teams typically draw specialists from federal and state agencies. Their expertise may include hydrology, geology, soil science, road engineering, botany, wildlife and fisheries biology, archaeology, recreation, trails and geographic information systems.
Bringing those disciplines together allows the team to consider several types of damage and risk within the same assessment. The process examines not only potential changes to water movement and soil stability, but also possible effects on roads, recreation assets, wildlife habitat, cultural resources and other features on federal forest land.
Protection of human life and safety is a central focus of emergency stabilization work. Property and critical natural and cultural resources are also among the values considered when the team evaluates whether action is needed.
## Information shared with local agencies
Another part of the response involves providing assessment data and mapping products to cooperating local agencies that could be affected by flooding following the fire. That information can help agencies understand the locations and types of hazards identified through the federal review.
Additional updates and assessment materials are available through the Pocket Fire Burned Area Emergency Response information page on InciWeb.
## Fire restrictions remain scheduled
Separately, Prescott National Forest is implementing Stage 1 fire restrictions and a prohibition on recreational shooting. Those measures begin at 8 a.m. Thursday, May 21, and are scheduled to remain in effect through midnight Sept. 30, 2026, unless officials rescind them earlier.
The restrictions and the Pocket Fire assessment address different aspects of wildfire conditions. The restrictions govern specified activities on Prescott National Forest, while the response team’s work focuses on identifying hazards within the Pocket Fire’s burned landscape and determining whether emergency stabilization measures are warranted.