Blaze Threatens to Devour Arizona Sky Island

SAFFORD, Arizona, July 6, 2004 (ENS) - Two fires caused by lightning have merged into one big blaze on Arizona's Mount Graham, threatening the international observatory on the mountain as well as the habitat of several rare and endangered species.

The 6,130 acre Nuttall Fire and 6,179 acre Gibson Fire burning across Southern Arizona's largest spruce-fir forest, the core habitat for the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel, are now being treated as one.

More than 800 firefighters from across the Southwest and as far away as Wisconsin have converged on the Coronado National Forest to fight the blaze on the northern face of the Pinalenos mountains, 75 miles northeast of Tucson.

Mount Graham is one of Arizona's mountain sky islands, rising up out of the sea of the Sonoran desert. The old growth fir and spruce forests on Mount Graham's summit have not burned since 1685. They support 18 different plants and animals found nowhere else in the world, including the Mount Graham red squirrel, the Mexican spotted owl, and the talus snail.

Considered a holy place by the San Carlos Apache and the White Mountain Apache people, Mount Graham is a living locus of spiritual energy, central to the religious practices and history of the Apache people.

The Nuttall-Gibson fire complex threatens Mount Graham International Observatory. July 3, 2004. (Photo courtesy SW Incident Management Team)

On Sunday, the fire came within three-quarters of a mile of the Mount Graham International Observatory, operated by the University of Arizona. Fire officials evacuated the observatory, leaving several employees on the premises to activate the external fire protection sprinkler system.

Bill Duemling, an information officer with Mew Mexico State Forestry who is at the fire scene, said the observatory has developed a water tank and sprinkler system for emergencies such as this.

Additional water to fight the fire is being drawn from lakes and ponds. Wells in the nearby communities of Safford, Thatcher and Pima are being tapped for delivery to the observatory by tanker truck. Crews are waiting until evening to moisten the area around the observatory buildings to take advantage of the greater humidity in the air at night.

On Monday, firefighters used bull dozers to construct a line around the observatory. Several crews and engines are implementing structural protection measures to prepare the buildings to sustain fire and embers.

Efforts Monday focused on preparing State Road 366, commonly known as the Swift Trail, Forest Service Road 507, and adjacent ridges as the northern and eastern containment line. Where possible, firefighters will conduct burnout operations along the roads and ridges to strengthen the containment line. Crews will continue to reinforce the west side of the control line.

The natural resources staff officer for Coronado National Forest, Randall Smith, has been on the job for 17 years. He has confidence in the strategy Small and his incident team are employing.

"The incident team has a very good strategy in place," he said. "They are attempting to herd this fire around the mountain. If they are successful, the strategy will protect the majority of the prime red squirrel habitat."

Red squirrel on Mount Graham (Photo courtesy UA Agriculture Department)

While he expects the squirrels themselves to be able to escape the fire it is "potentially a further impact on their habitat," he said. If it is a crown fire that destroys the tree tops, it will be detrimental to the squirrel, Smith said, but a ground fire can be beneficial.

The squirrels need a close canopy with stands of mature conifer trees, and they need standing dead and down trees in which to cache their food supply. "This territorial squirrel stays active throughout the year," said Smith. It collects cones and stores them in middens, where it is moist, damp, and cool. The middens hold the cones in a refrigerated state until squirrels are ready to eat them."

Smith says the red squirrels' habitat will not be wiped out by this fire, nor will the old growth habitat of the Mexican spotted owl. "There is still going to be considerable amounts of habitat even with this fire," he said. "Eight years ago there was fire on the south side of the mountain, and still owls are there."

Meanwhile, on the ground 18 hotshot crews of 20 people each plus four regular crews are battling the blaze with the help of 11 helicopters, 2 airtankers, 22 engines, nine water tenders and 12 bulldozers.

Fire nears binocular telescope enclosure on Mount Graham (Photo by Pruitt Small)

Crews are cutting brush and trees, placing foam or gel, and wrapping summerhouses with insulated thermal sheets in the Turkey Flat and Old Columbine areas and preparing for burnout operations. Burnout preparation and structural protection efforts are also occurring at Heliograph Peak.

The fire is making upslope runs, and the crews are fighting exhaustion and injuries to keep it at bay. There have been 10 injuries so far, including one firefighter from Flagstaff who was evacuated to hospital with heat exhaustion.

Fire crews are contending with conditions such as a fire whirl that moved across the mountain with enough force to blow the helmet off one of the firefighters, and many have had to deploy their emergency personal shelters to sustain falling ash and embers and heavy smoke conditions.

Sunday, hotshot crews were successful in putting in a containment line on the east end of the Nuttall Fire Complex, from Swift Trail to south of Arcadia campground and north of Turkey Flats. Crews will continue to strengthen this line and complete burnout operations today. Firefighters have finished burnout operations on the west side of the fire and officials are confident that this line will hold.

According to Paul Summerfelt, Deputy Incident Commander for the Southwest Area Incident Management Team, “Every day is crucial for the observatory. Every day we hold the line here, is a victory for us.”

To date, $3.4 million has been spent fighting the Nuttall-Gibson fire complex, which is just five percent contained.

And to the north in Arizona's Tonto National Forest, an even larger blaze had devoured 84,300 acres and $4.6 million in firefighting costs. The Willow Fire is 23 miles northeast of Scottsdale in grass and brush.

Rough, rugged terrain, extremely dry fuels, extreme fire behavior and long distance spots of fire are impeding containment efforts.

About 920 personnel are fighting the Willow Fire, which is considered 15 percent contained.

The Willow Fire, sparked by lightning, is located to the south and west of the communities of Payson, Pine and Strawberry, Arizona where it is threatening 6,000 people and 3,000 homes.

Due to expected heavy smoke concentration, a Relocation Center has been set up at the Payson Middle School for the residents of Deer Creek. The center was established to give the residents of Deer Creek a temporary relocation site as westerly winds are expected to bring heavy smoke into their area. Residents are not required to leave their homes.

Incident Commander Jeff Whitney has directed that State Highway 87/Beeline Highway, from Payson to the intersection with the Bush Highway/Saguaro Lake turn off be closed at eight o'clock this morning, a closure expected to last at least a week. The Willow Fire is moving to the southeast, and this section of State Highway 87 is the safest location to prepare for burnout operations. Firefighters need to burn out along the highway to stop the fire from spreading south and protect the Mount Ord Electronic Fire Lookout Site.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has authorized firefighting funds to help Arizona fight the Willow fire.

Big fires elsewhere around the country include a tough one in Washington's Okanogan/Wenatchee National Forest. The Pot Peak Fire has charred 3,470 acres of timber 15 miles west of Chelan. Fire officials say steep terrain and extremely limited access are impeding control efforts.

In Alaska, the fires currently burning are vastly larger than any in the Lower 48 states. Five fires, each covering more than 200,000 acres, are burning across Alaska, but only one has been assigned a Type 1 Incident Management Team, which manages large groups of firefighters.

The Boundary Fire burning 20 miles northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska in alpine tundra and black spruce has commanded the attention of more than 440 personnel, and containment is not expected until July 24. On Thursday, FEMA authorized the use of federal funds to help Alaska fight this fire.

On June 30, hundreds of people were forced to flee their homes near Chatanika, as strong winds blew the Boundary fire close to Mile 35 of the Steese Highway 28 miles north of Fairbanks. Evacuation orders remain in effect.

Fairbanks residents say ash is falling from the sky. A prevailing south-southeast wind resulted in active fire behavior on slopes and smoldering in tundra. Dozers are constructing fireline in preparation for burnout operations.

At least 70 million dollars in gold was taken out of the Chatanika area between 1926 and 1957. Today Chatanika is a gold camp resort on the Steese Highway. The highway remains closed to the public until further notice.