Fire may be fought in Wilderness with any actions necessary. The Wilderness Act provides that, “such measures may be taken as may be necessary in the control of fire, insects, and diseases, subject to such conditions as the Secretary {of Agriculture} deems desirable.” [Source: The 1964 Wilderness Act § 4(d); 16 U.S.C. 1133(d)]

This means that while Wilderness areas are protected from motorized vehicles, motorized equipment is allowed to enter wilderness areas when fighting wildfires or to respond to other types of emergencies. Bulldozers, chainsaws, fire retardants, or even logging of some trees and brush to create a fire-line can be used to control wildfires.

In addition to suppressing fires, fire managers within wilderness are allowed to use controlled, prescribed burns where needed to clear underbrush or other fuels to keep them from building to hazardous levels. The House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs affirmed this point and it stands as the most extensive and definitive direction from Congress. [Source: House Report 98-40. March 18, 1983]

Statistics show that forest fires are less common in wilderness areas. A good example in Arizona is the Rincon Mountains, which includes the 38,590-acre Rincon Mountain Wilderness . Between 1937 and 1995, the area averaged eight fires per year, with 90% caused by lightning, according to a 1999 U.S. Geological Survey report. By contrast, the heavily roaded Santa Catalina Mountains just to the north of the Rincons averaged 66 fires a year from 1986 to 1999, with 54% human caused. [Source: The Arizona Daily Star, October 5, 2003]

This supports nationwide U.S. Forest Service data that shows more than 90% of wildland fires are the result of human activity and ignitions are almost twice as likely to occur in roaded areas as they are in roadless areas. [Sources: DellaSala and Frost, “An Ecologically Based Strategy for Fire,” Fire Management Today: 15, citing 1991-1997 Wildland Fire Statistics], [Washington, DC: USDA Forest Service, Fire and Aviation Management, 1998], and [Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation, Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Vol. 1 Washington, DC: USDA Forest Service, 2000]