Bradshaw Ranger District

There has been significant progress in the suppression of the Horse Fire. With 49% containment, the western perimeter is secure. Crews successfully extinguished all heat sources on the southern tip and southeastern area.  Heavy equipment is being used to improve FSR 58 and FSR52, making it accessible to emergency vehicles.  There is no new growth or movement of the fire. 

The southern perimeter of the Horse fire shows little heat Wednesday, though winds are forecast to increase each day through Saturday and could rekindle interior heat sources.   

Crews are directly on the fire’s west-southwest edge holding containment there at 32%. The fire is moving and making short runs in the northeast corner where it is being monitored; helicopters are being used if needed. 

The Horse Fire burned actively Monday in the northeast corner of the perimeter from Blind Indian Creek to Pine Springs drainage and made short runs. Hotshot crews will aggressively work in this area on Tuesday. 

Residents can expect to see aircraft that is heavily being used to supplement on the ground firefighting.  

In the Crown King community, crews continue to create firebreaks; sprinkler systems are in place in the center of town and areas homes, with crews expanding protection Tuesday to the southwest areas. The community of Crown King remains evacuated.  

Virtual Community Meeting at 6:00 p.m. Monday, October 19, 2020.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PrescottNF/

Three firefighting divisions are protecting the community of Crown King, Arizona from the Horse wildfire Monday by creating firebreaks, constructing fireline, and installing sprinkler systems from the center of the town to outward structures. Crown King is evacuated. Additional work occurred along the southwest fire perimeter where firefighters increased containment to 21 percent.

The Horse Fire grew to 3,500 acres over the evening. Airtankers and helicopters were essential in slowing the spread of the fire as firefighters gained access. The fire is in a remote section of the forest with steep, rugged terrain. The strategy for the Horse fire is full suppression as crews continue to use aircraft to slow the rate of spread and scout for holding features to use as containment lines. The fire burned active all night and spotted just south of Minnehaha as of 8AM and has become well established and has become 100 acres in size.

As monsoon thunderstorms crossed portions of the Prescott National Forest yesterday afternoon, firefighters were busy chasing smoke reports across the forest.  

Due to lack of monsoon precipitation and key criteria being met for restrictions, the Prescott National Forest will enter Stage I Fire Restrictions on Friday, August 14th at 8 a.m.  The goal of the fire restrictions is to protect public health by reducing the number of preventable human-caused wildfires. Restrictions will remain in effect until forest officials determine that conditions have changed sufficiently to reduce the risk of human-caused wildfire.
 
Stage I fire restrictions prohibit the following:

Crews continued to make progress on the Slate Fire which is now 70 percent contained and after better mapping the fire is approximately 3.5 acres. Today ground resources will be extinguishing hot spots within the interior portions of the fire and continue to secure the perimeter. This will be the last news release unless significant events occur.
Resources:  1 - Type 2 Crew, 1- Type 3 Helicopter, air attack aircraft and miscellaneous overhead personnel.   

Firefighters responded to a smoke report at 11:00 am on Sunday, July 12, 2020 approximately 8 miles south of Prescott, near Mt Tritle (12N, R2W, Sec 9).  Yesterday aviation resources were able to keep the growth of the Slate fire to 10 acres which allowed ground resources to make access to the fire just before sundown.  Today crews will begin fire suppression efforts by constructing containment lines to secure the fires edge. We’d like to remind the public to stay out of the fire area for their safety and for firefighter safety.