Rafael Fire

The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team has completed the post-fire assessment on the Rafael Fire, and Forest officials on the Coconino and Prescott National Forests have re-evaluated and reduced the Rafael Fire area closure.

This will be the final daily update from the Rafael Fire.  According to Incident Commander Troy Mueller, fire managers at Coconino, Kaibab, and Prescott National Forests will assume management of the Rafael Fire Tuesday morning at 6 a.m.

A Type 3 Incident Command Team led by Incident Commander Troy Mueller, assumed management of the Rafael Fire today at 6 a.m. Crews continued with mop up, patrol and suppression repair work.

Today, crews will continue to patrol and mop up around the fire to secure the perimeter. Interior areas of the fire are expected to continue to burn and there may be smoke visible as these areas continue to burn. The Burned Area Emergency Response team is in place and is continuing assessing burn severity over the entire fire.

This team’s last scheduled virtual community meeting will be tonight at 6 p.m. on the Incident Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RafaelFireInfo/

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce the areas to the east and to the west of Sycamore Canyon will be downgraded from “GO” (evacuation) to “SET” status. This includes the National Forest areas east of Whitehorse Lake and JD Dam, Pine Flat, Woody Mountain Road south of Forest Road 538, “End of the World,” and the National Forest in that area. It is important to note that the areas within the Kaibab and Coconino National Forest are currently closed to public access due to Stage 3 fire restrictions, so those areas will remain closed.

The next scheduled virtual community meeting will be Wednesday, June 30 at 6 p.m. on the Incident Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RafaelFireInfo/

The next scheduled virtual community meeting will be Wednesday, June 30 at 6 p.m. on the Incident Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RafaelFireInfo/

Tonight smoke is expected to settle into the Chino and Verde Valleys as well as the Williams area.  Smoke forecasts are available at Wildfire Smoke Forecast | ADEQ Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (azdeq.gov) and https://fires.airfire.org/outlooks/NorthCentralArizona.

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce the communities of North and South Garland Prairie will be downgraded from “SET” (Pre-evacuation) to “READY” status. This includes the neighborhoods/communities of North Garland Prairie, South Garland Prairie, Pine Aire Estates, Maine Townsite, and the Camp Raymond Boy Scout Camp.

For information on evacuation status, and fire activity, there will be a virtual community meeting every day at 6 p.m. until further notice, on the Incident Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RafaelFireInfo/

Yesterday crews finished the burnout operation, completing containment line from Turkey Butte lookout to the Boy Scout camp on the northeast edge of the fire. Today this line will be patrolled and mopped up. This operation was designed to prevent movement of the fire to the northeast toward Flagstaff, and other values at risk. Firefighters will continue a firing operation from White Horse Lake Recreation Site to JD Dam and west to Pine Flat, using forest roads as a fire break.  Near the fire origin, crews will check the fire’s edge for hot spots and mop them up north to Government Canyon.