Fire Burning in Oak Creek Canyon
 

There is a big fire burning in OAk Creek Caonyon, forcing evacuation. I assume Hwy 89A is shut down btwn Flag and Sedona.

I have a friend who owns some units at Junipine in the canyon. I don't know if the fire has reached that area. I wish I knew the location of the subdivisions named in the article.

This gives me a very heavy heart. Oak Creek Canyon is one of the most beaustiful areas I have ever been to in the USA.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060619/...tern_wildfires

Oh my gosh- look at the pictures taken last night from the airport lookout.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/19/ari...tml?eref=yahoo

I called the Sedona fire hotline which has a recorded message on the Brins Mesa fire. It says that all homes and businesses in Oak Creek Canyon have been evacuated, w/people in the northern canyon (north of Indian Gardens) evacuating to Flagstaff and those south of that point evacuating to Sedona. Red Cross is set up in both Flag and Sedona.

ttt

Hoping to catch USNR and maybe he can give a first-hand update.

I may be the only one following this, but if anyone is planning on driving from Sedona to Grand Canyon this week, you aren't going to be using Hwy 89A. And if you are scheduled to stay at the cabins or places like Junipine in Oak Creek Canyon, you won't be staying there. I just got an email from my friend who owns at Junipine, and she was informed that there is no update on the fire now (other than that it is till active) and that they are being told that it is estimated that 89A will be closed til Thurs.

Apparently a "next level" or tier of firefighters is coming in to work on this fire- I saw that online awhile ago.

Yikes !
My next door neighbors left early this AM for the Grand Canyon and Sedona.
Just yesterday afternoon, I had suggested they add Oak Creek Canyon,
Red Rocks and Jerome. They were quite excited and were going to re-arrange some of their lodging.
I'm going to pass this info on to their
son and see if he can reach them by cell phone.
Thanks, emd !

R5

Hi R5, I hoep you can reach them. Many of the evacuees are staying in local hotels. Here is the latest article from about noon today.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...fire19-ON.html

On that last link I gave, take a look at the 68 "Reader's Photos" that you can click on on the right side. Most were taken yesterday (from many different vantage points), but #68 was taken today. It looks like a very big fire and you can see the fire jumping up to Wilson Ridge. The smoke is really filling up the Sedona skies today.

Of course I meant Slide Rock~

Thanks emd~I've printed out the article and I'm going to leave it at their door now-their son should see it later this afternoon.

Such an incredibly beautiful area
which I visited many times while growing up in Tucson-I hope they can contain it soon !

R5

For those who might not be following the other thread where there is talk of this fire, here is some first hand news from a fellow fodors poster, USNR, who lives in Sedona:

Author: USNR
Date: 06/19/2006, 03:39 pm
emd: I am watching the fire from our deck. We returned to our home Monday morning after being ordered by the police to evacuate the house about mid-afternoon Sunday. The fire appears to have moved from Brins Mesa at the end of Soldier Pass and to be on top of Wilson Mtn., has spread to 3,000 acres or more, and is being fought by ground and air personnel and equipment. Slurry bombers and helicopters with water constantly go over our house. A small twin-engined plane seems to be circling constantly, quarterbacking the fight by radio. Westerly and southern winds are moving the flames and smoke toward the east, which is toward Oak Creek Canyon. The canyon highway, 89A, has been blocked since yesterday. No structures have been damaged and no persons have been injured. I have no info about Junipine, but all efforts are being made, I believe, to keep the fire from spreading into the canyon itself. We are grateful for all those who are working on the fire, maintaining good order here on the flats, and hope they can contain the fire today. We just hope the winds do not rise; temperatures are about 95+ here and likely are lower up where we can see the fire. We are at 4,500 ft. and the fire now is at about 6,000 ft. Flames occasionally leap high, black or gray or white smoke rises in a gigantic plume, you would swear there is a volcano up there. All we can do is watch and hope.

emd-Thanks for keeping us updated on this fire. I grew up going to Slide Rock and haven't been to Sedona for a few years. Was hoping to go in the fall. It's always so sad to go into an area after a big fire and see all the destruction and burnt vegetation. Sounds like they are doing a good job containing the fire. Just pray that winds don't shift.

I just saw this on the Sedona Fire District website:

Brins Fire Updates

Date: June 19, 2006, 2:25 p.m.

The Brins Fire was human-caused. The apparent cause is an escaped campfire from a suspected transient camp in the area. The investigation is ongoing.

My friend who owns at Junipine just sent me this link to the Northern AZ Incident Management site, and there are good maps of exactly where the fire is burning at this link:

http://www.nazteam.com/assignments/maps.html

How very very very sad...and they think it may have started with an undoused campfire. :(

When people ask for favorite hikes in Sedona, that is the first one that comes to mind. Wilson Mtn was certainly one of the most enjoyable days our family has spent in Sedona, hiking to the peak where we stopped and had our picnic lunch on a promontory overlooking the canyon, then back down. It was so beautiful.

Well, when I started this thread yesterday it should have been called "Fire Burning in North Sedona", as at that point the fire really was more in north Sedona and had not breached into Oak Creek Canyon. But now the thread is titled correctly because the fire has breached into Oak Creek Canyon.

The latest news that I see this morning (story below from 9:30 pm last night) is that as of late yesterday the fire was within one half mile of Slide Rock State Park. There is much concern that the fire could take hold in the canyon and burn uncontrollably on up. There is a lot of fuel up there in the canyon due to much dead wood that has not been cleared, along of course w/the longstanding drought conditions. The fire is not slowing down apparently. A state of emergency has been declared and the fire is a national priority. I read yesterday that Type I firefighters are being brought in.

As of 9 pm last night, no structures had burned and no one had been hurt.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...fire19-ON.html

Right now, only certain hiking trails are closed, like of course Oak Creek Canyon trails and others areound the fire as well as the trails off 152 in west Sedona (Vultee Arch area; the trails are listed at the site below). But the Sedona Fire District and Coconino Forest site websites now say that as of this Friday the entire Coconino Forest will close to visitors- all day use areas, all hiking trails, etc. It says the forest area will open when it rains enough to reduce the risk of fire to a manageable level and hot, dry weather conditions are not forecast to continue.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/new...t-closes.shtml

http://www.sedonafire.org/brin.htm

This is the latest from the N AZ Incident management team site as of this afternoon. Not looking good:

June 20, 2006, 3pm - The Brins Fire is moving down into Oak Creek Canyon. The fire is getting close to U.S. Highway 89A. It is not moving extremely rapidly, however, that could change. If the fire continues moving at the speed it is now, it likely has a couple of hours before reaching the highway. Sedona Fire District is reactivating its emergency sirens. The power line through Oak Creek Canyon is being de-energized. Only essential firefighting personnel will be allowed on 89A. Residents who remained behind following the initial evacuation are advised to evacuate immediately.

What a shame emd, I use to spend time in Sedona and the surrounding area (before it got so popular) as a family member had a second home there.

I have read that the experts expect CA to have a bad fire season here due to our long rainy season and then sudden hot weather.

emd-Thanks for the update. I checked just recently on azcentral but didn't see anything new after your report time. I just hope that any residents that are still there have left. As we learned in the San Diego fires of a few years ago, things can change quickly and lives can be lost. My town, Fallbrook, CA had a big fire in 2002. Several of my friends lost their home but the fire moved so quickly they barely had time to get out. They didn't even have much warning. Six residents survived only by jumping into a pool until they could be rescued. So I hope and pray that the residents are safe and that all the fireman are safe also.

Still very little info tonight, but I did hear from my Junipine friend that the fire was coming down towards 89A between the Dairy Queen and Slide Rock; that was at about 6 pm tonight. So as of that time, it had not started heading further up the canyon. But of course, that is the area where the cabins start.

The most frustrating thing is not having up to date info. Of course, everyone there is putting all their energy into fighting the fire, and they are overwhelmed. The news crews are hours to a day behind in the reporting. And aside from knowing people who live there and own property there, that area is where my heart is. I love the land and have spent some of the most memorable times of my life by myself and with family and friends there over the last 10 yrs. I am hanging on every report and email. Have never been through a fire like this. It's very frightening and I'm not even there.

USNR, if you check in, please post on what is happening there. Would really appreciate hearing first hand news.

Just watched the 11pm news here in San Diego and they gave an update on the fire. Didn't seem like their news was any different than what we already had. They did show a picture of the Diary Queen and you could see the smoke very close behind it.

Today a big day. See attached story. The firefighters are waiting at 89A and will meet the fire head on to attempt to stop it from heading up the canyon and burning homes that are close to its projected path today.

Send positive thoughts to the area and those firefighters today if you care about it. It is crucial that the winds do not pick back up again. They are saying if they don't stop it today at 89A, it could go all the way up to Flagstaff.

Slide Rock State Park still has not burned, thank God.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...afire0621.html

It's hard to find news on this so I appreciate your efforts in updating us emd. Thanks. I'm sending your links on to our daughter and SIL, in Guanajuato, Mexico for the next couple of weeks, as I am sure they are interested too, that area being their favorite camping area--their getaway from Phoenix heat. Surely hope they are successful at stopping it at 89A today!

I prefered the nazteam.com site because it gave straightforward and factual news on the fire while that entity was in charge of fighting it. But now that the Type 1 firefighters from Idaho have been brought in to be in charge, the nazteam site is no longer updating. I will try to find the Great Basin firefighting site (the ones in charge now)- I had it up yesterday but didn't bookmark it. Hopefully they will have good straightforward reporting also. I'll post it when I find it.

You can see from a new map posted on the nazteam site last night (before they handed over the primary repsonsibility to Team 1) how the fire has spread and where it is now. See the fire perimeter map at this page:

http://www.nazteam.com/assignments/maps.html

Malesherbes (I can't get used to calling you that), I know you used to go there w/your family at Thanksgiving, or did that one time, staying at the Hyatt when it was new, and I did recall you daughter lives around Phoenix.

I think amwosu would be interested and concerned about this, as she has a condo near Phoneix and she and her husband go to Sedona to bike and hike. I think she is in Alaska right now on vacation.

I wonder how many people know nothing about the fire and are just cruising into Sedona on the way to Grand Canyon. It must be quite a shock.

We had another poster on here besides USNR who lived close to Sedona, but she has not checked in here yet.

I just hope this strategy the firefighters have going works. I am learning more about fire and burned area restoration than I dreamed I would know.

Ok, here is the site of the Team 1 people not managing the firefighting from Natl. Interagency Fire Center.

http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html

But it is a Natl. Agency so this fire is part of many fires reported on their site, and not much info is there. I hope the nzteam.com site will continue some updating.

Topping for MCK

That last post should have read "now managing" instead of not managing.

I got some tenative good news this afternoon from my friend at Junipine, but I want to be sure it pans out and stays good before sharing it, esp. since there are no new updates posted anywhere on the web today.

EMD, Thanks so much for all the updates and sites. That area of the world is so beautiful and has obviously touched everyone of us who has hiked it, played there or merely driven through it. I was there last month for my fourth or fifth visit and it is so sad to hear about the ravaging fires. We are all grateful to you for your information that is way more than the quick flash of the fire we get on the 6:00 news! Your friends and everyone in that area are in our thoughts and prayers. I hope the fire is controlled soon and Sedona will be there for all of us to return and enjoy once again.

You're welcome. Posting the info is about the only way I seem to be able to control the grief of the last few days. This fire has hit me hard on several levels. Like many others, I love the land there and have gone there to go hiking about twice a year for the last ten yrs., sometimes for a few days, sometimes for a week or even two weeks at a time, sometimes alone, sometimes w/my family or other hiking buddies. I also love the people there- in particular I know a few people who live there but I also just like the community of people generally who I encounter in the town and in the Village, from the rangers to the hotel people to the wine manager at Bashas (who knows me now). But also, as much as I have thought about retiring in Sedona part of the year and talking w/my husband about that and looking at houses when we go on longer trips there, I have never considered the impact and potential of fire hazard and drought conditions.

New update from the AZ news station:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...Fire21-ON.html

I think it sounds like the fire did not cross 89A to the other side of the canyon. But I hear that at the town meeting today they said that they were having more problems at the northern containment line around Sterling Canyon. The big deal remains the smae, I think- that they keep the fire from going down any further into the canyon.

God bless each and every one of those firefighters. They have another long night ahead of them.

Here is the update from last night:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...Fire21-ON.html

While the fire did not cross 89A, it has jumped the containment line on the norht side of the fire at Sterling Canyon. This article says that the most logical place for a new containment line would be at Bootlegger trail, 2 miles north of the previous line, but I am hearing that it may actually be further away than that. Apparently they worked through the night.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articl...Fire21-ON.html

Also:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/fir...06/index.shtml

Thanks emd for all your updates. There is so little on our news. I spoke to my step-daughter last night (she lives on Quail Track in Sedona) and she says the smoke from the fire is pretty bad.

You're welcome. I wonder if your DIL went to the town meeting yesterday at noon? I believe that fire officials and the mayor were there, and that the governor also spoke to them. But the fire has changed and moved so much since then that it is old news by now.

I am trying not to get any more fearful for Junipine and that area of the canyon now that the fire has jumped the Sterling Canyon containment line to the north. I just hope the plan the firefighters are carrying out can contain the fire at their next designated containment line. We probably won't see any more updates til late tonight.

It must be terrible to be evacuated so quickly from your home in a fire like this and trying to get up to date info on what is happening, even on the ground in Sedona and Flagstaff.

Oh, I am sorry sparkerlaw, I meant to say your step-daughter.

The Coconino Forest site I gave above says that by mid-day today a new website will be up on the Brins Fire. Once it is up, I will post the site address.

Thanks, emd, for keeping us all updated! I also watched your posts to USNR, and grew more anxious each time I saw you top it waiting for a reply. Glad he checked in.

Don't we have enough with natural disasters without man-made ones destroying some of the most beautiful areas in the world?! I'm sorry, but in this day and age, everyone should know to completely douse a fire before leaving it.

That area, and the folks that live there, are in our thoughts in prayers!

Sorry to seem slow in keeping updated on my posting. Fodor's Arizona web site does not include this set of postings.

This morning -- Thursday, June 22 -- the air is thick with smoke. We expected it to be that way because last night there were huge fires on top of Lost Wilson Mountain, north of Wilson Mountain. There's nothing up there, so I suspect the strategy remains the same: hold lines down along 89A, let the fire come toward the fire fighters, and hope that winds do not rise during the day. Some fires seem to be hugging the ground. Of course, if flames move up into the tops of the trees creating what is called a crown fire, then things become quite grim.

To my knowledge, no fire have crossed 89A. This containment is crucial because fire moves more quickly on an uphill slope. I do not know if the fires have entered Slide Rock State Park itself, but that is the direction it is moving. Sterling Canyon has been breached, according to reports. Yesterday, Wednesday, helicopters were used exclusively because propeller aircraft could not enter the canyon for safety reasons.

Governor Janet Napolitano met in Sedona yesterday with firefighting officials and local citizens. Many were evacuees from their homes and businesses in the Oak Creek Canyon. All available resources are being thrown into this fight and would continue to receive all aid possible. The American Red Cross has moved its shelter location seven miles south to the school in the Village of Oak Creek.
My take on the current situation is that the Sheriff's staff will aid those canyon homeowners and business people who want to make a quick in-and-out dash to their properties in the canyon. This is a most welcome move because many had no time to take out cherished photos, financial records, etc.

Weather here today is cloudless, slight breezes from south and/or west, and thermometer to reach about 100. There was some rain Wednesday in southeastern Arizona, hundreds of miles away. Most years the summer monsoon begins in early July. Phoenix temperatures for the next seven days range from 109 to 113, with no rain forecast. Spirits are high, things look better in general, and we just have to hang in there, hoping for the best. Appreciate everyone's concern. Our enormous gratitude goes out to all the firefighters gathered from all over the Western states.

Very good to hear from you, and I am sorry about not having this on the Arizona baord (I never do that part of the psoting process...). I am hearing that they are trying to reestablish a line near the Sterling Canyon line. I sure hope they can stop it in that area before another line has to be drawn. It is good that the fire has not come down into the canyon, and as you said is staying closer to the ground.

I am glad to hear that spirits are up and people there are holding on. It sounds like they are doing an excellent job with almost 700 firefighters and no buildings or persons harmed so far- that part in itself is amazing.

The fire is indeed in the canyon today, from all I can gather. The highway is the line of greatest resistance. Every effort is being made to keep the fire on the west side of the road. Embers, however, may be carried by the wind across the road and into grass, bushes, and trees.