The fire is eight miles south of Prescott, Arizona
4:38 p.m. MDT April 25, 2022
Crooks Fire map, 3:15 a.m. MDT April 25, 2022
A wind from the north on April 25 pushed the Crooks Fire three miles to the south in Ash Creek, increasing the size to 5,893 acres according to a fixed wing flight very early Monday morning. The northern edge of the blaze is 8 miles south of Prescott, Arizona. The east side is about a mile west of the Goodwin Fire that burned about 28,000 acres in 2017 (see map above).
The north wind provided good conditions Monday to complete firing operations on the north side to prevent spread to the northwest into Lookout Mountain and Dosoris Canyon. Throughout the day and into the night, firefighters extended the fireline south of Lookout Mountain toward Ash Creek and from Moscow Peak west to Senator Highway.
Crooks Fire as seen from Mt. Union Lookout, April 23, 2022. IMT photo.
Fire managers are planning contingency lines south and west of the fire in case winds push the fire in those directions.
Resources assigned include 19 hand crews, 38 fire engines, and 12 helicopters for a total of 675 personnel.
Weather
At 3:30 p.m. MST Monday at the Prescott Airport (elevation 5,043) the relative humidity was 9 percent, the temperature was 72, and the wind was east-southeast at 3 mph. The elevation at the fire ranges from 5,000 to 7,000 feet.
The weather on Tuesday and Wednesday could produce an increase in the rate of spread of the fire. The forecast for the area on Tuesday is for 20 mph winds out of the south gusting around 30, with relative humidity in the teens and the temperature in the 60s. On Wednesday the conditions will be similar but with winds a little stronger, 23 mph gusting to 26 mph. Thursday will be about the same as Wednesday.
Satellite photo showing smoke from the Crooks Fire at 3:01 p.m. MDT April 25, 2022.
Blackhawk helicopters from the Nebraska National Guard drop water on the Road 702 Fire west of Cambridge. Incident Management Team photo.
Firefighters made good progress Monday on the Road 702 Fire in southwest Nebraska.
Most of the fire impacted grass and crop lands, but there are woody draws which have heavier fuels, especially on Beaver Creek along Highway 89 and near the Republican River south of US 34. Those areas are receiving more attention from firefighters as they are mopping up. Incident Commander Rob Powell said there will be smoke in those draws for a while.
The most recent map produced at 4 p.m. MDT April 25 shows an increase of about 300 acres to bring the total up to 41,448 acres, due to a four mile long finger of fire north of US 34 northeast of Bartley that was not detected during an earlier mapping flight. Fire crews have contained all of the fire north of the highway, including the additional acreage.
The fire started in Kansas on Friday April 22 during a wind event which pushed it north quickly into Nebraska where it continued running. The fire was 27 miles long when firefighters were able to stop it two miles southwest of the Medicine Creek Reservoir.
Video captures a helicopter from the Nebraska Army National Guard dropping water on The #Road702Fire near Cambridge, Nebraska on April 24. The blaze has spread to an estimated 50,000 acres. #NEwx
Map of the Road 702 Fire at 1:42 p.m. MDT April 24, 2022.
A retired fire chief died in a Nebraska fire that has burned 41,155 acres in the southwest part of the state. The Road 702 Fire is west of the towns of Cambridge and Wilsonville and has crossed both US 34 and State highway 89. About 1,500 acres of the blaze is in Kansas.
Alyssa Sanders, with the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, said 66-year-old John P. Trumble, of Arapahoe, was overcome by smoke and fire after his vehicle left the road Friday April 22 during conditions of poor visibility caused by smoke and dust. His body was found early Saturday. He was assisting firefighters by serving as a spotter in Red Willow County.
Road 702 Fire. Nebraska State Patrol drone photo.
Nebraska National Guard has mobilized three helicopters and several support trucks to help battle the fire.
A Type 1 Incident Management Team from the Rocky Mountain Geographic Area led by Incident Commander Dan Dallas assumed command April 24.
Stephanie Shively with the Incident Management Team said Monday morning that the resources on the fire include 9 engines, one 20-person crew, and the 3 National Guard helicopters for a total of about 100 personnel. They have outstanding orders for dozers and another hand crew.
Ms. Shively said the size of the fire has not changed since it was mapped Sunday.
We send our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and co-workers of Chief Trumble.
Road 702 Fire. Posted April 24, 2022 by Loomis Volunteer Fire & Rescue.Nebraska Army and Air National Guard firefighters work the edges of a burned area near Hayes Center, Neb., April 24, 2022, to extinguish hot spots and prevent reignition. Photos courtesy of Capt. Joshua Miller.
Map of the Calf Canyon Fire showing the perimeter in red at 10:45 p.m. MDT April 23, 2022. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 2:45 a.m. MDT April 24.
As the wind speeds decreased from the gale force conditions seen Friday, firefighters on the Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak fires that burned together were able to re-engage Saturday. The blazes are about 10 miles north of Las Vegas, New Mexico.
Crews are working on structure protection out ahead of the fire, removing fuel near homes in order to reduce their vulnerability. Dozers are putting in fire line where the terrain permits and the seven hand crews are working in steeper, less rocky areas.
Even though the fires have merged they are still being treated separately in reports. The combined size determined by a mapping flight at 10:45 p.m. Saturday was 54,004 acres.
“We don’t have enough resources to do everything we want to do at one time so we have to prioritize the resources we have at the right location,” said Incident Commander Carl Schwope in a briefing Saturday evening.
Hermits Peak Fire April 18, 2022 before it merged with the Calf Canyon Fire. By @jennalunaphoto
Reports filed Friday night showed that only seven hand crews were assigned and only one of those was a higher qualified Type 1 crew. A total of 526 personnel were on the fire.
The Incident Management Team that is handling both incidents has ordered “hundreds” of resources, but those orders can only be filled if the personnel and equipment are available.
As of Saturday evening the fire had not crossed the 518 road near the junction of road 161, but it was close and the fire was active in that area.
The Hermits Peak Fire was caused by a prescribed fire that escaped on the Santa Fe National Forest at 4:30 p.m. April 6, 2022. No cause has been released for the Calf Canyon Fire first reported on April 19.
Cooks Peak Fire
The Cooks Peak Fire nine miles south of Cimarron, NM was less active than the Calf Canyon Fire, but its spread was also slowed by a decrease in winds. A mapping flight Saturday night determined it had grown to 51,982 acres.
Map of the Cooks Peak Fire showing the perimeter in red at 1:30 a.m. MDT April 24, 2022. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 2:45 a.m. MDT April 24.
Reports submitted Friday evening showed there were only nine hand crews assigned, with one being a highest qualified Type 1 crew. A total of 383 personnel were on the fire.
8:26 a.m. MDT April 23, 2022
Map of the Calf Canyon & Hermits Peak Fires. The red lines were mapped by an aircraft at 9:10 p.m. MDT April 22, 2022. The white lines were the perimeters about 24 hours before. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite as late as 3:07 a.m.
Strong winds and low humidities combined to cause two fires to merge and spread 10 miles through dry vegetation in Northern New Mexico Friday. A third fire was also very active. Those fires have now burned a total of approximately 88,000 acres.
Vertically integrated smoke, 4 p.m. MDT April 22, 2022
Wildfires in Arizona and New Mexico plus fires in the Southeast are putting a large amount of smoke in the air. Strong winds in New Mexico and Colorado are dispersing smoke from the two large fires in New Mexico, Calf Canyon and Cooks Peak, keeping the those near surface plumes more narrow than they would be with slower wind speeds.
Near surface smoke, 4 p.m. MDT April 22, 2022Forecast for vertically integrated smoke at 1 p.m. MDT April 23, 2022.
Vertically integrated smoke can be at any altitude. In some cases it might be only at high altitudes and may not be very noticeable at ground level. Near surface smoke will hover within 8 meters (26 feet) of the ground—the kind responsible for burning eyes and aggravated asthma.
In a two year period 13 to 19 percent of all giant sequoias in their natural range over four feet in diameter were killed by fire
Sequoia grove in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, November, 2021. NPS photo by Daniel Jeffcoach.
Today, on Earth Day, President Biden will sign an Executive Order to conduct the first-ever inventory of mature and old-growth forests on federal lands. This will be completed and made publicly available in a year with the objective of establishing consistent definitions and accounting for regional and ecological variation. The agencies will then analyze threats facing these forests, including from wildfires and other climate impacts.
After completing the inventory, the Departments of Interior and Agriculture will develop new policies, after public comment, to institutionalize climate-smart management and conservation strategies that address the threats facing mature and old-growth forests on federal lands.
We are losing thousands of giant sequoia trees that can live for 3,000 years
Nowhere is the need for protecting old growth forests more obvious than in the giant sequoia groves in California. In a two year period 13 to 19 percent of all giant sequoias in their natural range over four feet in diameter were killed by fire (and neglect) or will die in the next few years. In 2020, 10 to 14 percent of the entire Sierra Nevada population of giant sequoia trees over 4 feet in diameter were killed in the Castle Fire. Early estimates after two fires the following year, the KNP Complex and the Windy Fire, 2,261 to 3,637 sequoias over four feet in diameter were killed or will die within the next three to five years. These losses make up an estimated additional 3-5% of the entire Sierra Nevada sequoia population over four feet in diameter.
Three fires in two years that killed giant sequoia trees. The darker green areas represent groves of giant sequoias.
Under normal conditions giant sequoia trees can live for more than 3,000 years, which is 38 times the life expectancy of a human in the United States. The multi-year drought and higher temperatures have led to extremely dry fuel moistures which is causing wildfires in California and other areas to burn with unusual intensity, making even some of the giant sequoias with bark up to a foot thick susceptible to wildfires burning under these conditions.
It is probably safe to assume that when large fires are burning most of the priorities of the Multi-Agency Coordinating Groups for allocating scarce resources are decided by individuals with a history of on the ground firefighting. They may have a bias toward allocating more fire personnel to protect buildings, rather than fires where 3,000-year old trees 300 feet tall and 20 feet in diameter are being destroyed.
Since only approximately 100,000 of these mammoth trees are left that are larger than four feet in diameter, government employees allocating firefighting resources need to strongly consider the value of these treasures to the nation and the world, and that some of them have been living for thousands of years. It is disheartening to see hundreds of them destroyed in a matter of hours, especially if due in part to sending resources, instead, to protect structures that have not been hardened to FireSafe standards or constructed under reasonable county and city building codes.
The giant sequoias have already been inventoried. We know where they are. What NEEDS to be done is to ramp up the management of the fuels beneath these big trees, and greatly increase the prescribed fire programs around them on lands managed by the National Park Service, Forest Service, and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Firefighter on the Windy Fire applies water on a burning giant sequoia tree. Photo uploaded to InciWeb Oct. 11, 2021.
