With cloud cover and the rain received yesterday, hand and aerial ignitions were suspended until weather conditions improve. Today, with sunnier weather, the crews will be able to continue to progress the fire’s edge to the south towards FSRD 411.
Operations: Due to the moisture received yesterday, no ignitions were performed. Crews continued prep on the southern portion of FSRD 200 and did some mastication work on FSRD 848. Another crew prepped an unburned 30-acre section for treatment. Today will be dryer allowing crews to continue hand and aerial ignitions, creating more depth towards the southern containment line. Scouting will continue to the north side of Haigler Creek for future access routes.
Fire Ecology: High-severity fire effects are occurring in small patches across the landscape where the Valentine Fire has been burning. Historically, there would always have been small patches of high severity scattered across the forest, usually less than an acre. This patchy burning maintains a ‘mosaic’ of vegetation conditions across the landscape which affects the behavior and severity patterns of future fires. This also helps to create and maintain ideal habitat for a variety of plant and animal species.
Weather: Yesterday, cloud cover remained all day with trace amounts of precipitation. Today will be dry, sunny, and warmer weather is expected to increase through the middle of the week.
Closures: An emergency closure order for the Valentine Fire went into effect 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. 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:
Official fire information:
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) 421-4579
Office Hours: 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM