Firefighters have made unprecedented progress on the Bull fire, which started in Mexico on Friday April 29, and soon crossed the international border coming to within a few miles of Nogales, Arizona. A news release issued Saturday by the Coronado National Forest said the fire had burned a total of 23,000 acres, with 11,000 of those acres being on the U.S. side of the border. Sunday’s 8:00 a.m. news release from the same source reduced that acreage to an “estimated” 8,700. It did not specify the number of acres burned on each side of the border. (An update on InciWeb Sunday night clarified that a total of 24,000 acres had burned, with 9,711 acres being blackened on the U.S. side of the border.)
Here is more information from the Sunday news release:
General Information:
The Eastern Arizona Type 2 Incident Management Team assumed command of the Bull Fire at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Incident Command Post is located at Calabases County Park, Santa Cruz County, AZ. The fire is currently burning on lands administered by the Coronado National Forest within the Nogales Ranger District.
Fire Activity: Extreme fire behavior and long-range spotting during gusty wind conditions have been observed. Currently the fire is backing down slope into the wind and wind-driven fire in some drainages is also occurring. Flame lengths are 5 to 10 feet.
Significant Events: Personnel who worked through the night on Friday, conducted burnout operations halting the fire’s northern movement. Today, firefighters will continue to hold and secure firelines, extinguish hot spots close to the edge of the fireline and respond to new fire starts in the area.
The map of the Bull fire, below, shows heat detected by satellites on May 1, 2011.
