The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Warning for La Paz and Yuma Counties through September 8. Public cooling centers are available in some areas. Stay cool and hydrated!
Crews continue to patrol and improve containment lines on the Valentine Fire
10/01/2023 - 8:36 am
Tonto National Forest Type 3 Fire Management Team will be hosting a community meeting Monday, October 2 at 6 p.m. MST. The meeting will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located in Christopher Creek. Please use the Christopher Creek Road Loop entrance. An ASL interpreter will be present.
Operations: Yesterday had limited aerial operations due to high winds. Sunday crews will continue looking for snags close to the containment lines. Due to the forecasted high winds, crews will continue patrolling and improving containment lines and monitor fire activity as it backs down-slope towards the southern containment line along Haigler Creek.
Fire Ecology: Healthy ponderosa pine trees commonly live to be well over 300 years old, and some have been aged at over 900! On average, just 1 or 2 ponderosa pine seedlings per acre per decade may need to survive to support the historic open forest structure. Historically, the ground under most of the ponderosa pine forest where the Valentine Fire is burning was occupied by grass and scattered shrubs and flowers, with a few areas of denser shrubby vegetation. Anyone who has camped in a ponderosa pine forest and built a campfire knows that ponderosa pine litter is extremely flammable. The long needles don’t compress much, so it burns easily and completely. With an understory of grass and pine needles, and copious lightning, frequent fires killed most seedlings most years, leaving just a few to replace the larger trees over the centuries. With too little fire for decades, too many trees have survived so that groups of small trees now provide ‘ladders’ for fire to get up into the forest canopy when conditions are extreme.
Weather: Saturday was sunny and warm with the temperatures in the 80’s and high winds. Sunday will have temperatures in the low 80’s with wind gusts up to 35 MPH expected throughout the day.
Closures: An emergency closure order for the Valentine Fire has gone into effect as of 6 a.m. Sept. 5, 2023. The public is asked to avoid the fire area. The purpose of the closure order is to protect public health and safety during the Valentine Fire, and to protect assigned firefighting personnel engaging in wildland firefighting operations. Signs and gates will be in place to remind the public not to enter the fire area. Please visit the Alerts and Notices page for more information. https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/tonto/alerts-notices.
Safety: The health and safety of firefighters, and the public are always the highest priority. Members of the public are asked to avoid the fire area.
Smoke: The fire will produce considerable amounts of smoke due to excessive fuel accumulation. Smoke from the Valentine Fire may be visible in the surrounding areas for many days. Due to changing weather conditions, smoke from other wildfires and prescribed fires may contribute to smoke impacts in the area. Smoke-sensitive individuals and people with respiratory problems or heart disease are encouraged to take precautionary measures. An interactive smoke map available at, https://www.airnow.gov/wildfires/ allows you to zoom into your area to see the latest smoke conditions.
Fire details:
Size: 9,541 acres
Start Date: August 16, 2023
Cause: Lightning
Completion: 99%
Total personnel: 173
Location: 11 miles northeast of Young, Arizona and 27 miles east of Payson, Arizona
Fuels: Ponderosa Pine, Hardwood litter and timber
Information Links and Contacts:
Tonto National Forest https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/tonto/fire
InciWeb https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/aztnf-valentine-fire
Fire Email [email protected]
Fire Information Line (928) 362-0101 • Office Hours: 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM
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