Last night, a community meeting was held at the Jesus Christ Church of Latter-Day Saints in Christopher Creek, AZ where Forest Officials, Fire Managers, and Gila County Sheriffs announced that the communities of Ponderosa and Colcord Estates will be placed in Set Status within 24 to 72 hours from the time the meeting occurred. The decision was made for residents’ safety due their proximity to the fire perimeter and planned fire operations. For more information on Set Status, please visit http://www.readygila.com/.
Operations: On Thursday, Crews continued tactical firing operations south along the 512 road to Forest Road 411. New resources arrived and began scouting west along Forest Road 291. Today, Crews will look to make some improvements to control lines near Forest Road 411 and continue scouting to ensure even spread in canyon areas. Winds will continue to move smoke around the fire area.
Fire Ecology: When plants grow, they take nutrients from the soil. Eventually, the soil can be depleted of nutrients. In a frequent fire system, every time the fire burns through surface litter it releases those nutrients, and many of them become available to plants. So you can think of each fire as fertilizing the area it burns over. On the Valentine Fire, there’s been a great mix of rain and burning weather, so the surface vegetation is sprouting quickly, and over the next couple of years, overall the burned area should produce more and healthier vegetation.
Weather: Conditions are expected to remain dry through the weekend with temps reaching the high 80s and low 90s. Lighter winds may be conducive to smoke activity. Cloud cover in the afternoons is possible with increases chance of rain early next 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: Smoke from the Valentine Fire may be visible in the surrounding areas for many days. Smoke will be heavier in the mornings as it settles into the lower elevations and will lift as temperatures increase. Smoke-sensitive individuals and people with respiratory problems or heart disease are encouraged to take precautionary measures An interactive smoke map at https://fire.airnow.gov/ 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
Email: [email protected]
Fire Information Line: (928) 362-0101
Office Hours: 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM