Arizona – Page 12 – Wildfire Today

The Hart Fire is being allowed to burn northeast of Payson, Arizona

map hart fire arizona payson — Map showing heat detected on the Hart Fire at 3:36 a.m. MDT July 21, 2019. The fire is 18 miles northeast of Payson, Arizona.

(Originally published at 10:53 a.m. MDT July 21, 2019)

The Hart Fire 18 miles northeast of Payson, Arizona was very active Saturday and Saturday night, spreading south for about a mile. The Coconino National Forest has not updated the information about the fire on InciWeb since July 19, but part of the growth could be due to firing out along Forest Roads 96 and 321.

The fire is not being fully suppressed, according to the strategy described by the Coconino National Forest on July 19:

After careful review and discussion by fire managers, both Hart and Duke Fires will be allowed to burn in their predetermined fire perimeter to obtain resource objectives. Low intensity wildfires are used to help protect ponderosa pine forests from more severe damage by cleaning the forest floor of existing dried pine needles, dead shrubs and grasses. Too much accumulation of dried and dead fuels could allow fires to reach the canopy of the trees and possible crown fires. Fire also helps fertilize the soils to ensure a healthier forest.

The term “their predetermined fire perimeter” is not defined and as far as we can tell no maps of that area have been posted.

The Duke Fire is 10 miles north of the Hart Fire, north of highway 65/87/282, and has not been very active recently.

The Hart Fire is burning at 7,000 feet. The last update by the Forest Service on July 19 said it had burned 1,100 acres. Our very unofficial estimate based on satellite data shows that it has most likely burned two to three times that amount.

The weather forecast for the Hart Fire for the next few days predicts temperatures in the 80s, humidity less than 20 percent, and a chance of thunderstorms each day beginning Monday.

Arizona Hart Fire

An all-female helitack crew on a flight in Arizona

Helicopter Express Female Crew — Left to right: Ashlyn Parker (pilot), Natalie Bench, Dallas Baca, and Makenzie Mabery.

Ashlyn Parker, a pilot with Helicopter Express, let us know about an all-female crew on a recent flight while working near North Kaibab, Arizona supporting the Little Springs and Castle Fires:

A helicopter flight on July 14th had an all female crew — (left to right) Ashlyn Parker (pilot), Natalie Bench, Dallas Baca, and Makenzie Mabery. We also had another female helitack crew member who was on the ground staffing the helispot, Mariah Jones. Photo taken at Jacob Lake Helispot by Helitack crewmember JA Ford. Helicopter is a Helicopter Express 407HP.

Thanks Ashlyn!

I would have to think that this has probably happened before — an all-female crew on a firefighting helicopter flight, but probably not often. Anyone have examples?

Central Fire breaks out north of Phoenix

(UPDATED at 9:37 a.m. MDT July 21, 2019)

Map Arizona location Central Fire — The brown dots represent heat on the Central Fire east of New River, Arizona, detected by a satellite at 3:21 p.m. MDT July 20, 2019.

Officials said Saturday evening that the Central Fire just east of New River, Arizona had burned 503 acres (see the map below). The National Situation Report issued Sunday morning has it listed at 800 acres. Since Saturday evening very little additional information has been released.

Most of the fire is on land managed by the Tonto National Forest.

During the first few hours after the fire started Saturday afternoon firefighting resources mobilized included two Very Large Air Tankers (DC-10s), four Large Air Tankers, and three hand crews.

The fire is burning about 35 miles north of Phoenix, 4 miles east of Interstate 17, which remains open.

A satellite overflight at approximately 3 a.m. MDT on Sunday did not detect any large heat sources on the fire. This could mean the fire was not very active at that time, or clouds obscured the view. It does not mean the fire is out. It is likely that the fire is burning in light fuels such as grass and brush that burns quickly without leaving residual heat, making it very difficult for an orbiting satellite 200 miles over the fire to detect heat.

We will update this article after the Tonto National Forest releases information.

(Originally published at 5:46 p.m. MDT July 20, 2019)

map Central Fire New River, AZ — 3-D map showing the location of the Central Fire near New River, AZ at 2:32 p.m. MDT July 20, 2019. Looking east.

(Originally published at 5:47 p.m. MDT July 20, 2019)

Saturday afternoon a wildfire broke out near New River, Arizona north of Phoenix. Late Saturday afternoon Arizona State Forestry said it had burned 250 acres. (see the map above)

The blaze is 48 miles northwest of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway airport, which is a fairly quick turnaround for the air tankers working out the airport’s retardant reload base. Other air tankers are coming from Prescott. At 5 p.m. MDT FlightAware showed the following air tankers working on the fire; Tankers 01, 16, 15, 164, and 911 (a very large air tanker, a DC-10), plus an assortment of air attack and lead planes.

aircraft map Central Fire — FlightAware map showing aircraft near the Central Fire in Arizona at 4:53 MDT July 20, 2019.

Central Fire Arizona — Aerial photo of the Central Fire. Arizona State Forestry.

Good look on how low planes fly to drop retardant #12News #CentralFire pic.twitter.com/rgVefvSyrw

— Kyle Burton (@_Burty) July 20, 2019

Arizona Central Fire

14 aircraft and 367 firefighters are battling the Cellar Fire 14 miles east of Yarnell, Arizona

Map of the Cellar Fire, at 7:50 p.m. July 18, 2019 by the Incident Management Team.

The 7,000-acre Cellar Fire 15 miles south of Prescott, Arizona was active Thursday afternoon primarily on the northeast side as 7 air tankers, 7 helicopters, and 13 hand crews worked to limit the spread (see the map above). A total of 367 personnel are assigned to the fire.

The overall strategy of the Type 1 Incident Management Team led by Alan Sinclair is full 100 percent suppression. Structure protection is in place on the 52 Road (the Senator Highway). The highway may be used as a holding feature if the fire continues to move east.

The Incident Management Team reported that a DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker was effective in slowing the fire’s spread on the east side. Additional air tankers continued to support hotshot crews working on the northwest flank of the fire.

The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office issued a Code Red ‘GO’ mandatory evacuation for the residents in Pine Flat affecting 41 residences and 21 outbuildings. A total of 690 structures are threatened. A shelter has been established at the Prescott High School.

The weather at Crown King, 6 miles southeast of the fire, is predicted to be about the same Friday and Saturday as it was on Thursday — temperature in the high 80s and relative humidity in the teens. The wind will be a little stronger, generally out of the west or southwest at 10 to 15 mph with gusts to 20. This translates to no relief for the firefighters, however there are some fire scars out ahead of the Cellar Fire that could decrease the intensity and resistance to control.

Arizona Cellar Fire

Forest Service is managing a 7,000-acre wildfire south of Prescott, Arizona

The Cellar Fire is 16 miles south of Prescott

Arizona Cellar Fire

Demob begins on the Woodbury Fire

Woodbury Fire Phoenix Roosevelt — The Woodbury Fire visited the Superstition Wilderness, June 22, 2019. InciWeb.

The spread of the Woodbury Fire east of the Phoenix suburbs has slowed considerably, allowing fire managers to begin “right-sizing” the fire, according to information released by the Incident Management Team (IMT). Some firefighting resources are being demobilized.

The Southwest Area Type 1 IMT 2 is starting an initial transition of duties to the Arizona Central West Zone Type 3 IMT. The Type 3 team will assume command of the fire at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow, June 28th.

Below is a map of the Woodbury Fire.

Map of the Woodbury Fire P — Map of the Woodbury Fire. The red line was the perimeter at 11:25 p.m. MDT June 26. The white line was the perimeter June 22, 2019. Click to enlarge.

The work remaining on the fire includes patrolling, securing, and monitoring firelines. Fish Creek, Pinyon Mountain and Two Bar Ridge have interior pockets of vegetation burning within the fire perimeter. These areas pose no threats to the fireline, however southwest winds will push smoke towards the Roosevelt area on Thursday.

An Unmanned Aerial System, or drone, was used Tuesday to fly over the eastern border of the fire to scout for hotspots. The aircraft detected heat within the fire perimeter and helicopters then dropped water and firefighters constructed line on the ground. The IMT used the drone again on Wednesday.