Prescott National Forest

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 Southwest Area Type 1 Incident Management Team assumes command of the Horse Fire Sunday with additional firefighters and support equipment arriving in Crown King, Arizona.

The Horse Fire is actively burning northwest of Crown King and about 18 miles south of Prescott in very remote areas of the Prescott National Forest. With brush as high as eight feet, dense vegetation, steep terrain, and limited access options, firefighters cannot be placed directly in front of the fire. Aircraft is and has been aggressively used since the fire began Thursday, for full suppression.

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.

The Horse Fire was reported by Union Lookout shortly after 12:00 PM on Thursday, October 15th. The fire is burning through juniper and chaparral on the north side of Horse Mountain which is approximately 6 miles northwest of Crown King and 18 miles south of Prescott (T11N, R2W, S24).  At 16:00, aircraft on scene mapped the fire at approximately 300 acres. Due to the fire’s remote location and rugged terrain, fire managers are currently relying on aircraft to suppress the fire.

All Prescott National Forest offices will be closed Monday, October 12, in observance of Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day.  Regular virtual business hours will resume on Tuesday, October 13.

As fall colors start to appear on the Prescott NF, officials would like to remind visitors to please recreate responsibly and follow the Centers for Disease Control guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Prescott National Forest would like to remind weekend visitors that we all have a role to play in preventing human-caused fires, and that the forest is still in Stage 1 Fire Restrictions.

Stage I Fire Restrictions went into effect on Friday, August 14th and prohibit the following on all Prescott National Forest lands:

The Prescott National Forest manages 4 lakes across the forest; Lynx, Granite Basin, and Horsethief Basin Lakes on the Bradshaw Ranger District and Mingus Lake on the Verde Ranger District. 

Though the Prescott National Forest closed all lakes to swimming several years ago, the closure order prohibiting swimming was rescinded following recent changes and guidelines to closure order protocols.  Upon review of current conditions, no direct health and safety concerns currently exist, so Forest leadership has decided to allow swimming in all four lakes.  

Continued monsoon activity across the Prescott National Forest is keeping local resource busy.  Firefighters responded to two small lightning fires caused by passing storms yesterday afternoon on the Verde Ranger District and Bureau of Land Management (BLM).    

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: