From Bad to Worse

#1 Postby **Aslkahuna** » Sat Jun 21, 2003 8:43 pm

Two more wildfires to report-one in the Chiricahuas is no danger to structures but is in rugged terrain. The second is in Stump Canyon in the Huachucas about 8 miles south of Sierra Vista. There are homes in the area and the fire is burning alongside AZ 92 where the homes are. Fire trucks from all over Cochise County are on scene and at least one tanker aircraft (the P2V) is making slurry drops on the fire which has also worked into the upper slopes. Arizona Highway 92 which is a main route between Sierra Vista and Douglas has been closed and traffic is being diverted onto Hereford and the then Palominas Road into Palominas. A second tanker aircraft (a P-3) has now joined the fray. Winds in the Sierra Vista area have been gusting over 30mph. Residents in the area have been placed on evacuation notice and some may have left already-these are upscale homes in this area. If one good thing can be said it's that the fuels are mainly scrub oak, grass and brush so a big fire run like we saw on Mt. Lemmon is not likely unless the flames reach elevations above 6500 feet where Juniper and Ponderosa Pine start to show up. Also, the area was hit by a big fire 15 years ago (before the homes went in) so there are not many big trees. Beyond a doubt the fire was human caused-as to whether that human was American or an illegal remains to be seen but the area is frequently infested by illegals.

Steve

#2 Postby **wx247** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 6:47 am

I have been through this area a couple of times, even stopping in Douglas. Too bad this has happened... with each fire that develops the emergency crews get spread further apart.

azsnowman · #3 Postby **azsnowman** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 7:31 am

My God.......we didn't get home till wee hours (hey, 2200 hrs for someone who rises at 0430, that's LATE) anyways, as soon as we got home we turned on the 10 o'clock news and saw these fires, WTH are we gonna do? Resources are beginning to feel the pinch, they are becoming stretched to the limit already and we have at LEAST another month of the fire season. The Black Mesa, Fort Apache Hot Shots are on their way down this early a.m., I've got the freq. for the forest service and B.I.A on my scanner and the call for deployment went out at 0500 hrs, just a few short minutes ago! Steve, take care my friend, keep us posted and BTW.......great photos, thanks!

Dennis

Colin · #4 Postby **Colin** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 11:24 am

Man.........this is really bad news.........we don't need any more fires to build up.........the firefighters already have their hands full.........you guys are in my prayers and will be until all fires are OUT!

#5 Postby **Aslkahuna** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 3:44 pm

took off up hill yesterday and covered 1000 acres in about 12 hours or so. The image below shows the smoke plume when the fire hit the Junipers around 7pm last night. This was the view from my house where we could see flames on the mountain all night. The tanker aircraft are flying again today and the fire is still going but is now in the higher elevations and the homes were saved though residents were evacuated. The threat of more dry lightning next week is worrisome as it will be followed by another (and hopefully the last ULL right around month's end and then the heat blast and lead in to the monsoon which could start around 6-8 July if the GFS manages to verify. However, the start looks from the model run to be weak and restricted to the SE corner so other parts of AZ may have to wait longer.

Steve

[/img]

Colin · #6 Postby **Colin** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 3:47 pm

Hope everyone near that disastrous fire stays safe and no more homes are destroyed... but you need almost a miracle for that, unfortunately. :cry:

God does give miracles, and I'm hoping that this will be one of them!

#7 Postby **Aslkahuna** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 8:22 pm

seems pretty much contained now since winds did not pick up today and they were able to get crews up there along with the tanker aircraft. A total of 25 homes were evacuated but all were saved as was the Catholic Shrine which was surrounded by fire yesterday. Right now, they are saying that the fire was started by Guess who? One of VICENTE'S PEOPLE. It's fair to say that this will not affect the the attitude of the evacuated residents towards illegals since it was rock bottom anywaysince they have long grown weary of seeing their property turned into garbage dumps, open toilets and drug dropoff points-or having to go armed just to go into their backyards-but that's another topic. Meanwhile, the weather continues to be bad for the fire fighters all over AZ-but then again, it's always bad in June.

Steve

azsnowman · #8 Postby **azsnowman** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 9:02 pm

Well folks, I "think" it's MY turn...........we have HEAVY BLACK smoke just coming up over the Rim, it "MIGHT" be drift from the Aspen or the fire burning in Young (that's ANOTHER new fire!) but I seriously doubt it, it's too black, too heavy to be drift smoke..............DIRTY rotten @#$^&* I HOPE and PRAY this isn't cuz if it is, this too, like the other 15 fires we now have "AIN'T GOOD!" Stay tuned, I've got the scanner tuned into the forest service, Fort Apache Forestry, nuthin' in the time I've posted this.

Dennis

#9 Postby **wx247** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 9:05 pm

OMG... :o Dennis... keep us posted. Prayers going out to you and everyone in Arizona dealing with the fires.

pvroses · #10 Postby **pvroses** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 9:21 pm

Stay safe dennis ! You guys can't seem to catch a break. Prayers to all in a fire prone zone. I'll start a rain dance......... and you know that won't be pretty ! ~K

#11 Postby **vbhoutex** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 9:29 pm

Dennis keep us posted!!! The prayers are flowing for you and yours too!!!

I too am dancing and aiming at AZ!!! That is two ugly scenes if pvroses is telling the truth!!!

azsnowman · #12 Postby **azsnowman** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 9:54 pm

Well, it's confirmed, don't know the exact location but it's on the White Mountain Apache Reservation AGAIN! We are going to Super WalMart here in a few minutes to buy more emergency supplies because like I've posted before, I evacuated once and I am NOT going again. We live in a open meadow with fire breaks all around us, nearest pine tree is over 100 yards away, we've gotten out in the meadow and have built a defensable space around whole acre we own. I'll keep y'all updated as I get them............here we go again!

Dennis

#13 Postby **Aslkahuna** » Sun Jun 22, 2003 10:11 pm

in trouble as there are fires in NM as well. Take a look at the HI-Res visual satellite imagery and look at all the smoke plumes in AZ/NM.

Steve

Colin · #14 Postby **Colin** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 1:09 pm

I'm continuing to pray for you guys... I'm also scared to death for you Arizonians! :o

From Bad to Worse

From Bad to Worse

The Ash Canyon Fire

The Ash Canyon Fire

We Aren't The Only Ones

Who is online