On Edge – Again

Those of you who have read my blogs for a while may remember that a couple years ago, there was a massive fire in the mountains by my home.  The fire spread quickly, jumped major highways, and burned many homes and business.

Over 7000 residents were evacuated from their homes, not knowing if they would have a home to come back to.  My husband and I were among the evacuees.  We were fortunate to have friends who took us in the first couple days.  Then, they too were evacuated, and other friends allowed us to stay with them.  We were evacuated for a total of a week.  It was a very frightening time.

When we were finally allowed to go home, we really didn’t know if our home was still there.  As we drove out toward home, we cried seeing miles and miles of charred trees and bushes.  A 100-year-old bar (part of the “old west,” was burned to the ground.

We were among the fortunate ones.  The fire burned to about a block from our house and made a turn north away from it.  Our house was as we left it.

This past Sunday, another fire started high up in the mountains – the same mountains, but in an area that had never been burned before, so there is plenty of fuel for it to burn.  I am sitting on edge, very nervous that the fire will, once again, descend to the bottom again.  I am tracking the news closely, and I am posting the latest update below.

April 15 2014 - 9 am update

The fire has grown and has officially been designated a Type 1 fire. That is the highest fire designation.  A Type 1 fire means a national firefighting team will take over management of the fire from the local Forest Service fire fighters, which are a Type 3 response level team. Approximately 500 people will be arriving to fight the fire by Wednesday along with other assets, including air support.

Overview: The Brown Fire started on U.S. Army Fort Huachuca on April 13 and burned onto the Coronado National Forest at approximately 11am on April 14. It is burning in a bowl at the top of Sheelite Canyon.

Size: approximately 366 acres

Containment: 0%

Growth Potential: moderate

Fire Behavior: Active fire. Short runs. Isolated torching with short range spotting.

Threats: No structures are threatened at this time.

Objectives: 1. Firefighter and public safety 2. Minimize impact to Ft. Huachuca Ramsey Canyon and The Nature Conservancy 3. Appropriate suppression costs commensurate with values at risk 4. Sensitivity to wilderness values and threatened and endangered species

Tuesday's Activity:

Firefighters are being shuttled to the fire by helicopter where they will construct fire line. Air tankers will drop fire retardant and helicopters will drop buckets of water on the fire to minimize the fire's spread and support firefighters' efforts.

Clay Templin's Type 1 Southwest Incident Management Team has been ordered. Transfer of command will occur today at 6 pm.

Resources: Approximately 240 personnel are assigned including:

5 hotshot crews on scene - Ironwood IHC Silver City IHC Mesa IHC Prescott IHC Gila IHC

Arizona State Forestry Division Ft. Grant crew

Coronado NF crew 5 short crew

2 Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs)

2 P2V air tankers

1 Very Large Air Tanker/DC 10 (VLAT)

1 Type 3 helicopter

1 Type 2 helicopter

(1 one Type 1 helicopter en route 1 Type 3 helicopter ordered 3 Type 2 helicopters ordered)

1 Type 3 engine 2 Type 6 engines 2 water tenders miscellaneous overhead

Fuels: The fire is burning at the upper elevations in brush and timber.

Terrain: steep rugged inaccessible terrain.

Weather: A Fire Weather Watch is predicted on Wednesday. Low humidity and high winds combined with drought conditions will result in unfavorable conditions.