3-D map showing the Central Fire which was mapped at 12:08 a.m. MDT June 22, 2020. The Bush and Bighorn Fires can be seen in the distance.
The Central Fire just east of New River, Arizona spread to the east Sunday to the top of New River Mesa, growing to 4,517 acres according to a mapping flight at 12:08 a.m Monday.
At a virtual community meeting Sunday night Ralph Lucas, the Operations Section Chief of Alan Sinclair’s Type 1 incident management team running both the Central and Bush Fires, said he did not expect the Central Fire to grow much more:
But when I last spoke to the Incident Commander on the Central Fire, he was confident with what they had going on, and thinks that we might be able to get around this thing and not see a drastic increase in acreage, but only time will tell depending on the weather and the wind.
Skycrane “Isabelle” N178AC, a Sikorsky S-64F from Erickson Incorporated fills her 2,500 gallon tank at the Rancho Manana Golf Club while fighting the nearby Central Fire burning in the Tonto National Forest near New River, AZ on June 21, 2020. Photo by John Hall.
— Daisy Mtn Fire & Medical (@DaisyMtnFire) June 20, 2020
(Originally published at 12:47 p.m. MDT June 21, 2020)
Air Tanker 914, a DC-10, drops retardant on the Central Fire, June 20, 2020. Photo by JDH Images.
Eleven months ago firefighters battled a wildfire north of Phoenix about 35 miles north of Phoenix, 4 miles east of Interstate 17. There was confusion about the name of the fire, switching from Central to Daisy and back to Central.
Saturday the same thing happened in the same location. A fire started in the footprint of the 2019 Central Fire. The name changed from Central to Daisy and back to Central.
Red dots represent heat on the June 20, 2020 Central Fire detected by a satellite at 3:21 p.m. MDT June 20, 2020. Retardant from the July 20, 2019 Central Fire is visible in the background satellite photo taken August 12, 2019.
In the satellite photo above taken August 12, 2019, 23 days after the first Central Fire, you can make out retardant which was dropped by air tankers. Within those retardant lines are superimposed red dots representing heat on the June 20, 2020 Central Fire detected by a satellite at 3:21 p.m. MDT June 20, 2020.
The Southwest Coordination Center lists the current Central Fire at 2,000 acres. Since the Saturday afternoon overflight, satellites have not been able to detect any large heat sources on the fire, but it is likely burning, or was burning, in light fuels such as grass, and cooled quickly between overflights.
Last year we made the map below:
Map showing the location of the Central Fire 35 miles north of Phoenix at 3:21 p.m. MDT July 20, 2019.
The Incident Management Team on the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix is managing the Central Fire.
The Bush Fire grew Saturday by 9,171 acres to bring the total up to 184,531 acres. Firefighters have had success in recent days stopping the spread at Highways 87 and 188. They are closely watching the south side as it backs slowly downhill through light vegetation to Apache Lake and the Salt River.
The Central and Bush Fires in the Phoenix Area, June 21, 2020.
Firefighters are starting to get a pretty good handle on the Bush Fire. The perimeter has not changed in a couple of days and any smoke seen is from previously unburned interior islands or firefighters cleaning up the edges by burnout out to remove fuel that is new the firelines. The latest mapping shows it has burned 184,086 acres.
The Central Fire north of Phoenix east of New River, Arizona spread to the east Sunday to the top of New River Mesa, growing to 4,517 acres according to a mapping flight at 12:08 a.m Monday. More information about that fire is on Wildfire Today.
3-D map showing the Central Fire which was mapped at 12:08 a.m. MDT June 22, 2020. The Bush and Bighorn Fires can be seen in the distance.Air Tanker 914, a DC-10, drops retardant on the Central Fire, June 20, 2020. Photo by JDH Images.
The red line was the perimeter of the Bush Fire detected by a mapping flight at 11:33 p.m. MDT June 19. The green line was the perimeter about 24 hours before.
Firefighters on Friday made more progress in tying in the east edge of the Bush Fire along Highway 188 north of Theodore Roosevelt Lake. On Saturday they will be burning along the SR 87 / Beeline Highway to create a buffer for fire backing downslope from the top of Mount Ord. Firefighters are using aerial ignition from helicopters to help slowly back the fire downslope to minimize post-fire impacts in the area.
A fixed wing mapping flight Friday night at 11:33 MDT determined that the fire had burned 174,397 acres, a 24-hour increase of 23,397 acres.
For all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix including the most recent, click here.
Vicinity map of the Bush Fire east of Phoenix. The red line was the perimeter detected by a mapping flight at 11:33 p.m. MDT June 19. The green line was the perimeter about 24 hours before.
On the southeast side, smoke will also be visible as the fire continues to burn a large pocket of unburned vegetation within the fire’s interior.
Dee Hines, an Information Officer for the Bush Fire, said firefighters are allowing the south edge of the fire north of Apache Lake and the Salt River to naturally back slowly down the hill. Mr. Hines described the terrain as steep, rough, and rocky and the fire behavior as “creeping”.
The wind has moderated over the last couple of days, allowing firefighters to make significant progress on the huge fire. That trend is expected to continue through Tuesday with daytime breezes out of the southwest or west at 5 to 10 mph. But it being the desert, temperatures will be over 100 degrees in the lower elevations with relative humidity in the single digits. And there’s no chance of rain.
Areas that remain under “Go” evacuation notices include Brownsville, Jake’s Corner, Slate Creek, Pioneer Pass, Tonto Basin, Punkin Center, Sunflower, and residents and visitors to Apache Lake.
Firefighting resources assigned to the fire include 19 hand crews, 41 engines, 5 bulldozers, 19 water tenders, and 7 helicopters for a total of 759 personnel.
(Originally published at 8:58 a.m. MDT June 19, 2020)
The red line was the perimeter of the Bush Fire detected by a mapping flight at 11:18 p.m. MDT June 18. The yellow line was the perimeter detected by a mapping flight at 11:49 p.m. MDT June 17. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 3:24 a.m. MDT June 19.
Over the last few days firefighters on the Bush Fire have dropped back to Highway 188 and initiated backfire and burnout tactics. After the fire made a run several days ago spreading rapidly downhill almost reaching the highway, they began using fire to remove the fuel near the highway allowing the flames to move up and merge with the main fire.
Judging from imagery collected by a fixed wing mapping aircraft and later a satellite at 3:24 a.m. Friday, it appears that they are close to completing that mission, a limited mission, of stopping the portion of the fire along Highway 188 on the east side of the fire. After they get it completely fired out along the highway, then they will need to hold those 28 miles of fireline between Jakes Corner (at the intersection of Highway 188 and 87) and the Lake Theodore Roosevelt dam.
Firefighters will still have two other large sections of the fire to secure: the 15 miles of Highway 87 south of Jakes Corner to Sunflower, and approximately 20 miles along the Salt River and Apache Lake on the south side. If the weather cooperates the piece north of Sunflower should not be very difficult to fire out after the east side is taken care of. The area along the river is very rugged and difficult to access, and there is a chance the fire could ignite spot fires across the river, which would be a whole new ball game in difficult country. The fire has been very active five miles west of Roosevelt near the river.
The fire is 12 miles south of Payson, 17 miles northeast of Mesa, and 28 miles northwest of Globe.
Thursday the fire grew by another 36,134 acres to bring the total up to 151,075 acres according to data collected on the 11:18 p.m. MDT June 18 mapping flight. The firing operations on the north side will add thousands more.
Helicopter drop on the Bush Fire June 18, 2020. InciWeb photo.
The fire moved across the iconic Four Peaks and has now burned 114,941 acres
(UPDATED at 8:13 a.m. MDT June 18, 2020)
Vicinity map for the Bush Fire, 11:49 p.m. MDT June 17, 2020.
Firefighters on the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix are fighting fire with fire, removing fuel ahead of the blaze by firing out to keep it from crossing highways and destroying structures.
Wednesday night firing operations were conducted south of Sunflower near Highway 87, near the fire lookout and communication facilities on Mt. Ord (2 miles north of the fire), and along Highway 188 south of Tonto Basin and Punkin Center. Fire is now established along approximately 10 miles of the west side of Highway 188.
For all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix including the most recent, click here.
About 10 miles north of the fire fire officials are preparing areas around Jake’s Corner near the intersection of Highways 188 and 87 for burning out in order to protect structures.
The red line was the perimeter of the Bush Fire detected by a mapping flight at 11:49 p.m. MDT June 17. The yellow line was the perimeter detected by a mapping flight at 11:12 p.m. MDT June 16. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 2:54 a.m. MDT June 18.
A fixed wing mapping flight at 11:49 p.m. Wednesday night determined that the Bush Fire had burned 114,941 acres, an increase of over 25,000 acres in 24 hours.
(UPDATED at 7:21 p.m. MDT June 17, 2020)
The red line was the perimeter of the Bush Fire detected by a mapping flight at 11:12 p.m. MDT June 16. The yellow line was the perimeter detected by a mapping flight at 12:45 a.m. MDT June 16. The orange and red dots represent heat detected by a satellite on June 17.
The Bush Fire east of Phoenix has been very active on Wednesday, chewing up more vegetation on the north, east, and south sides.
Between the time of the fixed wing mapping flight at 11:46 p.m. MDT June 16 and a satellite overflight at 2:30 p.m. June 17 the northernmost point of the blaze moved about three miles to the north-northeast, roughly parallel to Highway 87. During that same time frame the east side spread down the east side of Four Peaks and reached Highway 188. At 2:30 there was fire along approximately four miles of the highway at the north end of Theodore Roosevelt Lake four miles south of Tonto Basin. It is likely that firefighters helped tie in the fire with the highway by burning out, a tactic intended to remove the fuel ahead of the main fire in order to check its spread, preventing it from crossing the road.
Late Wednesday afternoon several large air tankers and helicopters were working on the south side of the fire west of Apache Lake north of the Salt River. This is most likely an attempt to keep the fire from crossing the river and moving into the Tortilla Flat area along Highway 88. If it does cross the river putting this huge fire out becomes much more complicated.
A Type 2 Incident Management Team has been managing the fire, but Wednesday afternoon the Southwest Coordination Center announced that a higher level team, a Type 1 Team, has been ordered with Alan Sinclair as Incident Commander. It has been unusual to have the lesser qualified team on this very large fire for this long as it approaches megafire status, 100,000 acres. Typically in a situation like this the incoming team will not assume command until Thursday or possibly even Friday, depending on how quickly they assemble (except those working remotely) and transition with the existing team members.
(Originally published at 10:07 a.m. MDT June 17, 2020)
3-D map of the Bush Fire at 3 a.m. MDT June 17, 2020 (the red line and red areas). The yellow line was the perimeter about 24 hour before. Data from USFS mapping flight and NASA satellites.
The “Bush Fire” east of Phoenix was very active again Tuesday and Tuesday night, spreading to the south, north, and east, moving across the iconic Four Peaks.
The fire spread aggressively north on the east side of Highway 87 to Boulder Pass coming to within two miles of the community of Sunflower.
For all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix including the most recent, click here.
After a fixed wing aircraft mapping flight at 11:12 p.m. MDT June 16, a satellite overflight at 3 a.m. MDT June 17 revealed that the fire continued to move to the north and east. During that four-hour period satellite data showed that it spread two miles downhill almost reaching Highway 188 at the north end of Theodore Roosevelt Lake.
Map of the Bush Fire at 3 a.m. MDT June 17, 2020 (red line and red area). The yellow line was the perimeter about 24 hour before. Data from USFS mapping flight and NASA satellites.
A Type 2 Incident Management team lead by Incident Commander Mark Bernal is managing the fire which was mapped Tuesday night at 89,058 acres.
Resources assigned to the fire according to the National Situation Report include 14 hand crews, 26 engines, and no helicopters for a total of 541 personnel.
There are no reports of structures being destroyed. Sections of Highways 87, 88, and 188 are closed due to the fire.
The weather forecast for the fire area on Wednesday predicts 99 degrees, 8 percent relative humidity, and winds out of the south switching to the southwest in the afternoon at 13 mph gusting to 20 mph.
The fire was mapped by a fixed wing aircraft Monday night at 64,513 acres, an increase of 28,256 acres in 24 hours
(UPDATED at 6:37 p.m. MDT June 16, 2020)
Tuesday afternoon the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office issued an additional evacuation order, this time for an area on the south side of the Bush Fire — Apache Lake north of Highway 88:
Map showing the approximate location of the Bush Fire at 2:28 p.m. MDT June 16, 2020. It is based on heat detected by satellites. This unofficial map should not be used to make decisions about safety or evacuation.
For all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix including the most recent, click here.
(UPDATED at 2:26 p.m. MDT June 16, 2020)
Map showing the approximate location of the north side of the Bush Fire at 12:50 pm MDT June 16, 2020.
Additional evacuations have been ordered for the Bush Fire.
From the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office at about 1:30 p.m. MDT June 16, 2020:
ATTENTION: EVACUATE NOW
A “Go” notice has been issued in the area of Sunflower due to the Bush Wildfire burning along State Route 87. Residents in the Sunflower area should evacuate now. Grab your emergency Go-kit and go to your relocation area or with friends/family.
The Red Cross Evacuation Center has not been set up in Payson at this time. Drive with care and follow the directions of emergency personnel.
Just before the Sheriff’s Office issued the notice above, this was in another message about the new evacuation:
Evacuated residents should proceed north towards Payson. Proceed to the Payson Police Department at 303 N. Beeline Highway, Payson, AZ. 85541. Drive with care and follow the directions of emergency personnel.
As of Monday night the Bush Fire had burned over 64,000 acres northeast of Phoenix, Arizona.
(Originally published at 8:07 MDT June 16, 2020)
3-D map showing the perimeter (in red) of the Bush Fire looking northeast at 11:46 p.m. MDT June 15, 2020. The yellow line was the perimeter 24 hours before.
The “Bush Fire” northeast of Phoenix grew substantially Monday adding another 28,256 acres to bring the total to 64,513 acres. All of the growth was on the north and east sides, spreading away from the greater Phoenix area, but moving closer to the communities north of Theodore Roosevelt Lake, including Tonto Basin and Punkin Center.
For all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix including the most recent, click here.
The fire is in the Tonto National Forest, with much of it within the Four Peaks Wilderness. The blaze has already burned over Boulder Mountain and Pine Mountain, and is close to reaching Brother Peak and Browns Peak, the highest point in the Wilderness at 7,659 feet.
On June 15 the Gila County Health and Emergency Department announced the evacuation of Tonto Basin and Punkin Center from Highway 188 and A-Cross Road to Highway 188 at Rambo Realty. The Sheriff’s office has more information about evacuations on their Facebook page.
Map showing the perimeter of the Bush Fire (in red) at 11:46 p.m. MDT June 15, 2020. The yellow line was the perimeter 24 hours before.
A Type 2 Incident Management Team, Southwest Team 5, assumed command of the fire Monday morning.
The fire started June 13 at 2:00 p.m. near the intersection of Bush Highway and Highway 87. The cause listed on InciWeb is “human caused, vehicle fire”.
As of Monday, no structures have been damaged or destroyed.
Hot and dry weather is expected for the next several days with winds out of the Southwest. Tuesday may bring red flag conditions which will cause additional challenges for firefighters.
Bush Fire as seen from Roosevelt Marina June 15, 2020 Gila County Sheriff’s Office photo by Sgt. Don Engler.
The Bush Fire has exceeded the size of the fire that for six years held the record for the largest fire in Arizona, the 61,000-acre Lone Fire, also in the Four Peaks Wilderness. It was caused April 27th, 1996 by a party of two campers who left a campfire unattended near Lone Pine Saddle. That record was blown away in 2002 by the 468,638-acre Rodeo-Chediski Fire at Show Low.
The Central and Bush Fires in the Phoenix Area, June 21, 2020.
(UPDATED at 10:52 a.m. MDT June 20,2020)
Friday night’s mapping flight determined that the Bush Fire had burned 174,397 acres, an increase of 23,397 acres in 24 hours.
For all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix including the most recent, click here.
(UPDATED at 8:23 a.m. MDT June 19, 2020)
The red line was the perimeter of the Bush Fire detected by a mapping flight at 11:18 p.m. MDT June 18. The yellow line was the perimeter detected by a mapping flight at 11:49 p.m. MDT June 17. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 3:24 a.m. MDT June 19.
The fire has grown to 151,075 acres.
(UPDATED at 8:04 p.m. MDT June 18, 2020)
The red line was the perimeter of the Bush Fire detected by a mapping flight at 11:49 p.m. MDT June 17. The yellow line was the perimeter detected by a mapping flight at 11:12 p.m. MDT June 16. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 3 p.m. MDT June 18.
(UPDATED at 7:42 a.m. MDT June 18, 2020)
Vicinity map for the Bush Fire, 11:49 p.m. MDT June 17, 2020.The red line was the perimeter of the Bush Fire detected by a mapping flight at 11:49 p.m. MDT June 17. The yellow line was the perimeter detected by a mapping flight at 11:12 p.m. MDT June 16. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 2:54 a.m. MDT June 18.
For all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix including the most recent, click here.
(UPDATED at 7:25 p.m. MDT June 17, 2020)
The red line was the perimeter of the Bush Fire detected by a mapping flight at 11:12 p.m. MDT June 16. The yellow line was the perimeter detected by a mapping flight at 12:45 a.m. MDT June 16. The orange and red dots represent heat detected by a satellite on June 17.
(UPDATED at 9:20 a.m. MDT June 17, 2020)
Map of the Bush Fire at 3 a.m. MDT June 17, 2020. Data from USFS mapping flight and NASA satellites.3-D map of the Bush Fire at 3 a.m. MDT June 17, 2020. Data from USFS mapping flight and NASA satellites.
For all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix including the most recent, click here.
Map showing the approximate location of the Bush Fire at 2:28 p.m. MDT June 16, 2020. It is based on heat detected by satellites. This unofficial map should not be used to make decisions about safety or evacuation.Map showing the approximate location of the north side of the Bush Fire at 12:50 pm MDT June 16, 2020.3-D map showing the perimeter (in red) of the Bush Fire looking northeast at 11:46 p.m. MDT June 15, 2020. The yellow line was the perimeter 24 hours before.Map showing the perimeter of the Bush Fire (in red) at 11:46 p.m. MDT June 15, 2020. The yellow line was the perimeter 24 hours before.
A mapping flight Monday night at 11:46 determined that the Bush Fire had burned 64,513 acres.
GOES-17 satellite photo of the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix at 6:56 p.m. MDT June 15, 2020.3-D Map of the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix looking southwest. The red line was the perimeter at 11:25 p.m. MDT June 14, 2020. The green line was the additional growth through 1:24 pm MDT June 15, 2020.Map of the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix. The red line was the perimeter at 11:25 p.m. MDT June 14, 2020. The green line was the additional growth through 1:24 pm MDT June 15, 2020.
3-D Map of the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix looking southwest. The red line was the perimeter at 11:25 p.m. MDT June 14, 2020. The green line was the additional growth through 1:24 pm MDT June 15, 2020.
Monday afternoon the Incident Management Team on the Bush Fire announced that it had burned 37,900 acres.
For all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix including the most recent, click here.
(UPDATED at 3:13 p.m. MDT June 15, 2020)
Map showing the perimeter of the Bush Fire at 11:25 p.m. MDT June 14, 2020.
Here is a zoomed-in version of the map showing the location of the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix at 11:25 p.m. MDT June 14, 2020. The data is from a fixed wing mapping aircraft.
For all articles on Wildfire Today about the Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix including the most recent, click here.
(UPDATED at 1:13 p.m. MDT June 15, 2020)
Bush Fire, northeast of Phoenix, June 14, 2020. Inciweb photo.
At 9:46 a.m. MST on Monday a notice from the Gila County Sheriff’s Office said, “The Tonto Basin and Punkin Center area are being evacuated. If you need to travel into the evacuated areas to remove livestock and or property you will be allowed to do so.”
A notice from the Sheriff’s office also reported, “Highway 87 from the Bush Highway M/P 199 north bound and south bound to BIA 101 entrance to the Matazal Casino in Payson is closed due to the fire on Highway 87. Only local traffic will be permitted. Residents in the local areas i.e. Rye, Gisela, Deer Creek, Ox Bow will be permitted to travel into Payson and return home. The Junction of Highway 87 and Highway 188 is closed. Highway 188 to the Roosevelt Dam is closed.”
The weather is not helping the firefighters. The forecast for the fire area on Monday is for temperatures of 81 to 91, relative humidity 12 to 17 percent, and no chance of rain. The winds will become southwesterly at 6 to 15 mph by the late morning/early afternoon. Gusts of 20-25 mph will occur over most of the mountain range, but ridgetops could see gusts nearing 30 mph. Monday night the winds will be southwest at 5 to 10 mph.
(UPDATED at 7:10 a.m. MDT June 15, 2020)
Bush Fire Permeter at 11:25 p.m. MDT June 14, 2020.Bush Fire northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. Photo by James Stamsek, June 14, 2020.
The Bush Fire was mapped at 36,257 acres Sunday night. We will post more about this fire later.
(Originally published at 9:36 a.m. MDT June 14, 2020)
Map showing the approximate location of the “Bush Fire” north of Mesa, Arizona. If light fuels burned and then cooled before being detected by the next satellite overflight, the fire could be larger than shown.
Both lanes of State Route 87 are closed northeast of Phoenix, Arizona due to a vegetation fire that was unfortunately named “Bush Fire”.
The northbound lanes are closed at Bush Highway at milepost 199, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. The southbound highway is currently closed at State Route 188.
There is no estimated time to reopen. Drivers are encouraged to use an alternate route, such as US 60 and SR 188 through Globe, or delay travel if possible.
Bush Fire, June 13, 2020. Tonto National Forest photo.Bush Fire, June 13, 2020. Tonto National Forest photo.
