Here are tips to keep your pets safe during Arizona wildfire season

PHOENIX — Wildfires in northern Arizona are causing evacuations, prompting an animal rights organization to put out a reminder on how to keep pets safe during fire season.

PETA urges those affected by wildfires to not leave animals behind to fend for themselves if evacuations are required, noting that people who leave behind pets could be prosecuted.

The nonprofit also advises people put together an animal emergency kit with food, water, carriers, leashes, vet records and anything else necessary to keep them safe.

“Because animals left behind face agonizing injuries or death during a wildfire, the time to include them in worst-case scenario plans is right now, before disaster strikes,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a press release.

“The climate catastrophe has made a protracted, more intense fire season the new norm and PETA urges everyone to prepare for an evacuation now and be ready to flee flames with the whole family.”

A final reminder is that animals that are confined in stalls, especially horses, can’t outrun a fire, so they should not be locked in any way.

The Pipeline Fire, burning just north of Flagstaff, had grown to about 20,000 acres by Tuesday morning.

Two other wildfires first detected on Monday, known as the Haywire Fire and Double Fire, merged and have burned an estimated 4,000 acres combined.

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