With increasing fire danger across Arizona, Tonto National Forest officials will implement emergency stage 2 fire restrictions and recreational shooting restrictions for the entire forest beginning Thursday, May 1 at 8 a.m.
Tonto National Forest firefighters are planning five “pit burns” on the Payson Ranger District beginning tomorrow and continuing through March as weather and related conditions permit.
The Payson Pits prescribed fire project will remove assorted woody fuels resulting from clearing projects on federal and private lands. The Tonto’s Facebook and ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) social media pages will post specific start dates and projected end times for each prescribed fire.
Highlights: The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) continues to make assessments for post-fire risks. The temporary flight restriction (TFR) has been removed as the aircraft are released. Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) are still being utilized on the incident; while there’s no TFR, pilots are encouraged to continue safe practices when flying over the fire area to protect crews that are still working throughout the fire area.
The Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team has arrived and will begin to assess the burn severity of the soil. This specialized team evaluates recently burned areas for damage caused by the fire and implements emergency treatments as necessary to protect life, property, and natural resources. Containment increased as the crews strengthened and completed containment lines along the majority of the SR-260 corridor. Significant amounts of repair work have been completed in the northeastern portion of the fire area.
Firefighters are focusing on mop-up operations and suppression repair throughout the fire-affected area. Crews are closely monitoring interior pockets of heat to ensure the fire remains within its current footprint. Visible smoke from unburned pockets of fuel within the fire's interior is expected. Monitoring and containment efforts continue along the SR-260 corridor.
The management of the Horton Fire transitioned to a Type 3 team with the Tonto National Forest at 7 a.m. today. Yesterday, crews strengthened containment lines to a depth of nearly 200 feet along the powerline corridor. Mop-up operations and suppression repair continue throughout the affected area, and the forest closure order has been updated to reflect current conditions.
The Horton Fire is now 75% contained after diligent work from fire crews over the past several weeks. Fire crews continue to patrol and monitor the area and address interior hot-spots while enhancing containment along the SR-260 corridor. With the increase of containment, all communities in the area have been downgraded to READY status. The Southwest Complex Incident Management Team 1 will be handing management of this fire back too the Tonto National Forest on Monday, January 13.
Firefighters worked through snow and frigid temperatures yesterday to strengthen containment along the fire perimeter. With increasing containment, excess equipment is being backhauled, and crews are actively monitoring and patrolling the area. Efforts continue to address remaining pockets of heat within the fire perimeter to ensure the fire stays within its current footprint.
With cold and wet conditions reducing fire behavior, firefighters continued patrols, mop-up efforts, and prep work along the fire perimeter. Crews addressed internal pockets of unburned fuels, which may produce visible smoke and flames but remain well within the interior of the fire. Improved containment lines have led Gila County to lower evacuation levels to READY for communities along the western containment line.
The Horton Fire increased to 1,074 acres and remains at 17% containment. Increased activity occurred near the Promontory Point area, with fire continuing to move east and south along Promontory Point and east of Horton Springs.
As a reminder, a community meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, December 30, 2024, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, located at 546 W Ashby Apple Dr., Payson, AZ 85541.