A night shift consisting of engines and hotshot crews conducted successful firing operations along the east side of River Road, northeast of Fort Thomas. Crews stayed engaged in that area all day on Saturday, prepping the road for those operations. Firing operations, or backburns, are used to create a fire line ahead of the main fire. Resources then burn off the fuel between that line and the head to help slow the fire’s spread. Overnight crews also burned out around a home and other values at risk as part of structure and infrastructure protection.

The Bryce Fire stayed active throughout the night as southeast winds fueled it to the northwest through the Gila River bottom. Firefighters stayed engaged into the early morning hours working to suppress numerous spot fires and scouting locations for day shift resources to safely engage at the head of the fire. The fire continues to produce extreme fire behavior with long-range spotting as it pushed approximately six miles on Friday.

Arizona State Department of Forestry and Fire Management and Coconino National Forest fire managers plan to take advantage of current weather conditions and begin work on a highly visible prescribed burn project southwest of Flagstaff starting tomorrow.

Prescribed burns are always dependent upon multiple conditions, including personnel availability, fuel conditions, weather and approval from the Arizona Department of Environment Quality. Prescribed burns may be changed or canceled last-minute if burn conditions do not meet criteria outlined in advance.

Fire managers plan to continue prescribed fire operations on the Lakeside Ranger District of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests beginning December 16 through December 20, 2024, as weather and vegetation conditions allow for successful operations.