smoke

Fire managers will be conducting slash pile burns Wednesday, and continue Thursday if needed, near Flagstaff, Mountainaire, west Sedona and southwest of Clints Well.

Smoke from piles near Mount Eldon Road is expected to disperse toward the west and may be visible to north Flagstaff residents and motorists using Interstate 17 near Mountainaire. Smoke form the piles in west Sedona and near U.S. Highway 260, southwest of Clints Well, are small and should be unnoticeable. Smoke may settle during evening hours and impact low lying areas near the burn sites.

The Black Mesa Ranger District plans to conduct a prescribed burn within the Heber-Overgaard Green Waste Site on Forest Road 488F Rd in Township 12N, Range 17 East, and Section 16 starting Monday, October 15, just north of Overgaard on State Highway 277. Smoke will be seen from Highways 260, 277, and 377 and will have light to moderate impacts to Heber and those highways throughout the week but should decrease significantly each evening after the primary ignition occurs.

Fire managers will be conducting slash pile burns tomorrow south of Flagstaff near Forest Road 132.

North Zone fire managers on the North Kaibab Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest and the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park have announced locations where they plan to complete prescribed fire projects starting this month and continuing through the spring of 2019. Approximately 10,000 acres could be eligible for treatment across the plateau in Fiscal Year 2019, but the implementation of each project will only occur when weather, fuel moisture, and smoke dispersal conditions are within the defined prescription parameters.

A smoke column was visible yesterday as increased fire activity simultaneously pushed growth south to Forest Road 610 and west to Forest Road 219. Firefighters successfully established the dozer line off FR D2441, which was done to help reinforce movement of the fire’s western flank.

“We expect strong winds this afternoon,” said Cat Fire Incident Commander Kody Stoner. “Today, the plan is to monitor the drainage to the west of the main fire and initiate firing operations as necessary in order to reduce the effects of high severity fire behavior that could occur today.” 

Fire managers on the south zone of the Kaibab National Forest will continue ignitions on the Sunflower Prescribed Fire Project through the weekend ahead as forest conditions remain favorable. Over the past three days, 3731 acres have been treated with an additional 2100 acre unit scheduled to be ignited on Saturday, and a 1000 acre block on Sunday. 

During the remaining firing operations this week campers and hunters are asked to avoid establishing campsites near the fire activity and seek alternative sites away from the burn area.

Fire activity increased due to lower relative humidity and increased winds mid-afternoon yesterday. Meanwhile, firefighters completed firing operations on the western flank of the main fire along Forest Road 2599 and south to FR 610. 

Today firefighters plan to conduct firing operations on an as-needed basis only and install dozer line off FR D2441. This dozer line will help firefighters reinforce the western flank in the event that increased fire behavior pushes the main fire westward toward FR219. 

Cat Fire Overview:

If conditions are favorable to do so, firefighters will continue to conduct burnout operations on the Cat Fire today that has burned approximately 4,497 acres in the rugged terrain of Saddle Mountain Wilderness in the North Kaibab Ranger District, Kaibab National Forest.

Incident Commander Kody Stoner said that crews were successful with their burnout on the fire’s west flank adjacent to Forest Road 2599 yesterday and plan to continue to burnout that western flank and work south toward Forest Road 610 today.

Fire managers at Saguaro National Park plan to conduct a prescribed burn on Mica Mountain in the Saguaro Wilderness of the Rincon Mountain District (Saguaro East) this fall when conditions are favorable. The prescribed burn is currently planned for mid-late October.

Although there has been change in overhead, Kody Stoner, the new incident commander on the Cat fire stated, “Not much change has occurred on the fire and activity remains low. There was no smoke visibility yesterday.” With showers expected to come in over higher terrain areas between Monday and Tuesday, fire activity will be very quiet.

Cat Fire Overview:

Date reported: August 6, 2018                                  Cause: Lightning