Category Archives: Forest Fires

A historic landmark in the Prescott National Forest was wrapped with a heat-resistant foil this week to protect it from an Arizona wildfire. As of Friday, a forest official said the Crooks Fire hasn’t moved closer to the Palace Station Historic Stagecoach Stop Cabin in a couple of days, which is good news for the historic landmark. The wildland firefighters were able to wrap the entire wooden structure with a tinfoil-like material. Along with wrapping the Palace Station, firefighters worked on creating defensible space around the cabin by clearing brush and vegetation in the area. In a community meeting Thursday night, forest officials spoke about protecting Palace Station as it is their responsibility to protect it.

SANTA FE, N.M. — Thousands of firefighters battled destructive wildfires in the Southwest as more residents prepared to evacuate Friday into the weekend in northern New Mexico where strong winds and dangerously dry conditions have made the blazes hard to contain. The biggest fire in the U.S. grew to more than 117 square miles through the afternoon northeast of Santa Fe. Gusty winds prevented any aerial attacks by midmorning and crews lost some of the containment they had established in previous days. The rapid rate of the spread of the fire was exceeding dire predictions in some areas, incident commander Carl Schwope said Friday night. “We’re in a very dangerous situation. Evacuation statuses are changing as we speak,” he warned at a briefing in Las Vegas, New Mexico, about 50 miles east of Santa Fe.

ALBUQUERQUE – Bulldozers were busy Monday scraping through New Mexico’s high country as firefighters scouted more rugged terrain, looking for places where they could wield tools to dig lines that stop what has grown into the largest wildfire burning in the U.S.  Nearly a dozen new large fires were reported over the weekend across the nation – four in New Mexico, three in Colorado and one each in Florida, Nebraska, South Dakota and Texas. With more than 1,350 square miles burned so far this year, officials at the National Interagency Fire Center said the amount of land singed so far is outpacing the 10-year average by about 30%.  …In northern New Mexico, evacuations remained in place for several communities Monday and conditions were still too volatile for authorities to assess the damage caused Friday and Saturday as fierce winds pushed flames across tinder-dry mountainsides in multiple counties.

…Over a dozen sizable fires were burning in Arizona and New Mexico, destroying dozens of homes and as of Saturday burning more than 174 square miles (451 square kilometers).   Winds that howled Friday remained a concern on Saturday in northern New Mexico where two fires merged and quadrupled in size to a combined 66 square miles (171 square kilometers) in mountains and grassland northwest of Las Vegas.  The merged fires burned some structures but no figures were available, said fire information officer Mike Johnson. “They were able to save some structures and we know we lost other structures that we weren’t able to defend.”  …Elsewhere in the region, the fire danger in the Denver area on Friday was the highest it had been in over a decade, according to the National Weather Service, because of unseasonable temperatures in the 80s combined with strong winds and very dry conditions.

PHOENIX – Hundreds of people northeast of Flagstaff remain evacuated from their homes as the Tunnel Fire pushed further forward by thousands of acres. The wildfire grew to nearly 20,200 acres by late Thursday, as wind continued to whip flames across the area and away from northern Arizona’s largest city. Coconino County officials said 30 structures have gone up in flames. …Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey declared a state of emergency Thursday to increase resources for dealing with the destructive blaze. Residents around Flagstaff questioned how a small blaze … ballooned to such an extent by Wednesday afternoon. Matt McGrath, a district ranger at Coconino National Forest, said firefighters had corralled the wildfire Sunday and didn’t see any smoke or active flames when they checked on it again Monday. By Tuesday, the wind was firmly in control. Flames jumped the containment line, leaving firefighters and McGrath to ask themselves if they could have done something differently

FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — Fire managers across the Southwest are reckoning with strong winds that forecasters say could lead to explosive growth in wildfires this week. Hundreds of people were evacuated in numerous blazes that have scorched structures and signaled an early start to the fire season. A wildfire on the outskirts of Flagstaff continued its run Wednesday though dry grass and scattered Ponderosa pines around homes into volcanic cinder fields, where roots underground can combust and send small rocks flying into the air, fire officials said. …Winds are expected to ramp up Thursday after easing up a bit Wednesday. Friday has a chance of precipitation but even stronger winds followed by a dry forecast into next week. …”Folks, we have entered our fire season,” he said. “It’s going to be a long one this year.

Additional Coverage: Arizona wildfire triples in size, sending hundreds of families fleeing

Dangerous fire conditions are creating the perfect fuel for wildfires to scorch through the arid landscapes of the Southwest. The Tunnel Fire, which sparked Sunday about 14 miles northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, exploded to more than 16,000 acres by Wednesday morning, destroying at least 25 structures, according to Coconino County officials. More than 200 firefighters are battling the fast-moving inferno, which is currently 0% contained. An additional 250 structures are threatened, which has prompted evacuations of nearly 800 homes and 1,000 animals in the area. While the Red Cross has opened a shelter at a local middle school, the Fort Tuthill County Stables has been opened for horses, goats, sheep, pigs and chickens that reside in the evacuation zone, according to the county. …The Southwest is experiencing the driest conditions in at least 1,200 years, a study published in Nature Climate Change in February found.

At least two dozen structures have been destroyed in a fast-moving wildfire in rural northern Arizona that ballooned to nearly 25 square kilometres Tuesday, Coconino County Sheriff Jim Driscoll said during a news conference.  The county declared an emergency Tuesday as winds whipped the flames, shut down a major highway and grounded aircraft that could drop water and fire retardant. County officials said 766 homes and 1,000 animals have been evacuated from the area.  A couple of hundred homes along U.S. 89, north of Flagstaff, were evacuated as embers jumped ahead of the main blaze and smoke billowed into the air in an all-too-familiar scene. …Firefighters on Tuesday were up against 80 kilometre per hour gusts that pushed the wildfire over the highway and weren’t expected to let up much this week, authorities said.

Firefighters scouted the drought-stricken mountainsides around a New Mexico village as they looked for opportunities to slow a wind-driven wildfire that a day earlier had burned at least 150 homes and other structures while displacing thousands of residents and forcing the evacuation of two schools. Homes were among the structures that had burned, but officials on Wednesday did not have a count of how many were destroyed in the blaze that torched at least 6.4 square miles (16.6 square kilometers) of forest, brush and grass on the east side of the community of Ruidoso, said Laura Rabon, spokesperson for the Lincoln National Forest. Rabon announced emergency evacuations of a more densely populated area during a briefing Wednesday afternoon as the fire jumped a road where crews were trying to hold the line. She told people to get in their cars and go. …[With] no precipitation and love humidity levels …stopping the flames will be difficult.

Firefighters battled a vegetation fire that threatened homes north of Redding and prompted evacuations Friday afternoon.  The Flanagan Fire was burning in the area of Walker Mine Road west of Lake Boulevard. Firefighters are making progress in bringing the fire under control.  …A burn pile that was lit by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection escaped control and sparked Friday’s Flanagan Fire, officials said Saturday.  Cal Fire spokesperson Jennifer Shaw said she had no other information.  The fire was reported about 10:30 a.m. Friday in the area of Walker Mine Road and Flanagan Road west of the city of Shasta Lake.  Driven by wind and dry conditions, the fire grew and prompted the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office to order residents who live in the area to evacuate.

A second wildfire ignited Thursday in the Cleveland National Forest, where crews were already working to control the Jim fire burning near the Riverside-Orange County line. The San Juan fire sparked around 12:15 p.m. off State Route 74 near Sievers Canyon and grew to an estimated 9 acres before forward progress was stopped, officials said. Containment was at 90% as of Thursday evening. The two fires were feeding on sunbaked vegetation that has seen little rain since the start of the year and could offer a grim preview of what the 2022 wildfire season may have in store. …The two blazes could spell trouble for the fire season ahead. A record-dry start to the year in California, coupled with extreme temperature swings, is priming the landscape to burn. …Though January and February are typically the heart of the wet season in California, the two-month stretch this year was the driest ever recorded in most of California.

FLAGSTAFF, AZ — Anyone who has lived in Arizona in recent years has likely heard about or seen the devastating impact wildfires can have on our forests, homes, and local communities.  …To fight those fires, teams of firefighters and hotshot crews in those areas routinely conduct prescribed burns — smaller, controlled fires — to help eliminate fuel sources, and conduct training operations to improve firefighting efficiency and operations.  That hands-on training, now bringing other firefighting agencies to Arizona for on-the-ground experience.  Agencies from Colorado, Nevada, South Dakota, and other parts of Arizona partnered with the Flagstaff Fire Department and City of Flagstaff to create the Formal Training Exchange. The teams worked together on prescribed burns, woodland urban interface, smoke management, and how to safely thin the forest.

RENO, Nev.  – It has been a long, destructive season for wildfires. One marked by big dangerous fires.  Tamarack. Caldor. Dixie. Those names and this year will be remembered. So, maybe it’s understandable to want to turn the page, and declare an end to this fire season.  The rain and snow brought by the storm did finally prompt the Forest Service to declare a final end, full containment and control of the oldest of those big fires–the Tamarack. It started what now seems ages ago, (but was only in early July,) flared up weeks later and threatened communities like Woodfords, Markleeville and Topaz Ranch Estates. It eventually burned nearly 69,000 acres and yesterday was still listed at only 82% contained. 

After it burned through 221,835 acres over the course of 67 days, California’s Caldor Fire has been completely contained, according to state fire officials. The fire began on August 14 and destroyed 1,003 structures including homes and commercial buildings, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire. …containment doesn’t mean that that fire has been extinguished, but that firefighters have constructed a perimeter around the fire. 500 firefighters are still assigned to the blaze. …”Controlled means fire managers are confident the fire is not likely to get outside the line. Some fires can linger under control until winter rains or snow arrive and finally bury any and all smoldering logs, embers or ash,” the U.S. Forest Service stated on Thursday. …Evacuation orders and warnings in connection with the Caldor Fire had been lifted as of October 4. …The Dixie Fire … is now also 97 percent contained

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Fire crews made significant progress overnight against a wildfire burning for nearly a week in Southern California coastal mountains, officials said Sunday. More than 1,600 firefighters were battling the blaze in the Santa Ynez Mountains west of Santa Barbara on land and by air. They were able to stop its forward growth, and the blaze was 78% contained, federal officials said. The Alisal Fire started last Monday and has scorched nearly 27 square miles (69 square kilometers). It is threatening about 400 structures. …The fire erupted during fierce winds last week and spread rapidly down the face of the mountain range, leaping a highway and railroad to the beach below. 

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — A key Southern California highway closed for days because of a wildfire was reopened, but authorities warned that flames still posed a threat to remote properties in a coastal mountain range. More than 1,300 firefighters aided by aircraft dumping water and fire retardant worked to box in the blaze that has chewed through more than 26 square miles (67 square kilometers) of chaparral and grass in the Santa Ynez Mountains west of Santa Barbara. Containment of the Alisal Fire was increased to 11% on Thursday evening. Calmer weather allowed aircraft to stay in the air longer, fire spokeswoman Kristen Allison said “The winds are going to be a lot less than anticipated, so we’ll have helicopters working 24-7,” she said. “That’s great news.”