The communities and ranches near the Valentine Fire are no longer under SET evacuation status but remain on READY status. Operations on Monday successfully brought the fire down to Haigler Creek, completing firing operations. Minimal fire activity was reported in other areas, with ongoing monitoring and patrols by crews. Today, crews will continue to monitor, patrol, and address any areas of concern.
Operations: Monday’s firing operations were successful in bringing the fire down to Haigler Creek. This will complete firing operations on the Valentine Fire. All other areas of the fire had minimal fire activity. Crews continued to monitor and patrol these areas. Today crews will monitor, patrol, and mop up any areas of concern.
Fire Ecology: In many areas in and adjacent to the fire, surface vegetation is dominated by two non-native grass species: Weeping Lovegrass (called ‘Dude Grass’ by locals), and Yellow Bluestem. These two grasses often create ‘monocultures’ by out-competing native species. They are well adapted to fire and support surface fire behavior that is likely very similar to historic fire behavior. Along with most of the native species on the Valentine, they will benefit from the fire. Balancing the effects to desirable and undesirable species is one of the challenges of reintroducing fire to this landscape.
Weather: Lighter winds along with cool temperatures will be seen Tuesday along with just a few afternoon clouds. Conditions will become drier with humidity dropping into the upper teens to lower 20s. Winds will generally be southwest to west 3-8 mph with gusts to around 15 mph on the ridges.
Closures: An emergency closure order for the Valentine Fire has gone into effect as of 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: The fire will continue to produce smoke due to fuel accumulation. Smoke from the Valentine Fire may be visible in the surrounding areas for many days. Due to changing weather conditions, smoke from other wildfires and prescribed fires may contribute to smoke impacts in the area. Smoke-sensitive individuals and people with respiratory problems or heart disease are encouraged to take precautionary measures. An interactive smoke map available at, https://www.airnow.gov/wildfires/ allows you to zoom into your area to see the latest smoke conditions.
Fire details:
Size: 9,644 acres
Start Date: August 16, 2023
Cause: Lightning
Completion: 99%
Total personnel: 145
Location: 11 miles northeast of Young, Arizona and 27 miles east of Payson, Arizona
Fuels: Ponderosa Pine, Hardwood litter and timber
Information Links and Contacts
Tonto National Forest: https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/tonto/fire
InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/aztnf-valentine-fire
Fire Email: [email protected]
Fire Information Line: (928) 362-0101 • Office Hours: 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM