FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., July 21, 2019 – Due to the complexity of the Museum Fire and additional resources needed, a Type 1 Incident Management Team has been ordered and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow for in-briefing and assume command of the fire.
The Southwest Area Incident Management Team #2 (IMT), led by Incident Commander Rich Nieto, will arrive tomorrow afternoon and is planning to take over management of the fire at approximately 6 p.m.
The Museum Fire, located about a mile north of Flagstaff (Latitude/Longitude: 35°15'47.3"N 111°38'19.2"W), was reported at about 5 acres at 10:53 a.m. this morning. The fire has grown quickly and is currently estimated at 400 acres.
Smoke will be visible from Flagstaff and other local communities. The public should use extreme caution when driving on U.S. Highways 180 and 89 north of Flagstaff as firefighting vehicles, personnel, and equipment will frequently be using those roads as they fight the fire.
Evacuation information is handled by Coconino County Emergency Management and conducted by the Sheriff's Office. The Emergency Management Call Center can be reached at (928) 213-2990.
@joebartels Gosh kind of a good point if true. For me to be clear, I am not upset they are throwing everything they have at this fire. It’s more lamenting the fact that this kind of response was not given to Woodbury. They kind of said from the start, hey we going to let this one burn. Not sure how someone determines the Peaks are culturally or naturally more important to AZ than the Supes is all...
On way to CO and it’s a sad scene approaching Flag right now. Hoping an inch of rain falls tonight and we can be done with this fire; AZ could use a little break with the fires this year, sigh...
friendofThundergod wrote: ↑Jul 23 2019 2:18 pm
For me to be clear, I am not upset they are throwing everything they have at this fire. It’s more lamenting the fact that this kind of response was not given to Woodbury. They kind of said from the start, hey we going to let this one burn. Not sure how someone determines the Peaks are culturally or naturally more important to AZ than the Supes is all...
On way to CO and it’s a sad scene approaching Flag right now. Hoping an inch of rain falls tonight and we can be done with this fire; AZ could use a little break with the fires this year, sigh...
This is the same situation that happened with the Sprague Fire in 2017 up in Glacier Park that took out the Chalet dorm. They were just going to let it burn and didn't throw much resources at it and then all of a sudden, the Chalet dorm was gone (and there were resources there, just not enough) along with a lot of other landscape. Most people thot if they had thrown the resources at it from the get-go, the fire would not have burned nearly the acreage it did let alone the Sperry Chalet dorm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprague_Fire It started Aug 10th with only 100 acres and grew to 17,000 acres by October 1st. It was said it was expected to be contained by Nov 1st. Not a big fire by any means but if they had jumped on it full bore, I think the results would have been substantially different. You still can't get into Lincoln Lake where you were. The Chalet's rebuilding funding exceeded expectations; they expect to be open for reservations in 2020.
Sad about the Dry Lake Hills fire as it is one of my go-to hikes up there.
For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination. Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled.
Here is a link to the area closed by the Museum Fire. If I read it correctly, Snow Bowl Road and a portion of Highway 180 are closed. Both are boundary roads of part of the closure area, and the order says that boundary roads are closed.
@DixieFlyer
The forest order is quite explicit and clear. As clearly delineated boundary roads, both FR 516 (Snowbowl Road) and FR 522 (Freidlein Prairie Rd) are closed.
It clearly exempts Highway 180 (despite a typo) and Highway 89 from closure despite being boundary roads.
I suspect they intended for FR516 to remain open but there's no mistaking what the forest order says, which is that it is closed.
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
@chumley
I called the Ski Lift Lodge and they told me that both Snowbowl Rd and 180 are open, although the order certainly seems to make it clear that Snowbowl Rd is closed
Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there
chumley wrote: ↑Jul 23 2019 10:54 am
significantly contributes to the economic engine of the area
Snowbowl more than any other thing. I was at the Water Reuse Symposium there last summer and Snowbowl being able to be operated every year for a set amount of days indepedent of the weather is probably THE biggest driving factor to alot of the recent growth in Flag.
@CannondaleKid despite the forest order, CNF confirmed on their official social media page that snowbowl road and all hiking trails accessed from the road are open.
It is the boundary, it is available for traveling on. Snowbowl Road is open, along with the trails that begin on that road. We will be posting alternative places where the public can recreate and this area is on it.
Last edited by chumley on Jul 24 2019 1:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
Forest Service reveals how the Museum Fire started!
It was their own forest-thinning contractor!
While not negligent, it was human caused, and lay dormant for 14 hours after the initial spark.
the human-caused wildfire originated in a steep slope environment associated with critical restoration work and was likely caused by an excavator striking a rock during operations. The resulting spark created a heat source that hibernated until warm, dry, and windy conditions arrived that caused the heat source to grow into a small fire and was subsequently spread by the wind. Rock strikes are possible during operations in steep slope thinning restoration projects such as the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project.
They've done a huge amount of thinning in the area, this shot was taken a couple weeks ago along the south end of AZT #34 where they're piling up huge stacks of logs and slash.
This was long over due. I wonder how it might affect future plans, since this could affect the logger's insurance. When I hiked Mount Elden last week I could see a line of dead trees where the fire came up the ridge and met the sunset trail. That area was left fairly dense. It'll be interesting to see what a lot of the burned area ends up looking like next spring or summer, or even this fall if they open up that area and some folks are able to hike there and take pictures.
There was a very large landing or deck of logs about halfway up the lookout road which I took a photograph of in my early July Mount Elden hike photo set. That pile of logs burned up completely and my guess was extremely hot when it did so.
For all of people's beliefs about corruption or mismanagement or whatever, this is not a wilderness area. It only speaks to the need for further management in the future. Unless the forest service is going to just let whatever fires happens up there happen and run wild, the only way to keep things like this from happening is to manage that forest. Something which has become a dirty word not only on this website but in the general public's view from what I can tell.
If that's the same log pile I saw a couple weeks ago (I was riding down Schultz, then back up via various trails on the NW side... sorry, not 100% sure which trail I was on when I got the pics) but...
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., April 28, 2020 — Coconino National Forest is rescinding the closure order for the burned area of last year's Museum Fire north of Flagstaff.
Lifting this closure order allows public access into the burned area on Mount Elden and Dry Lake Hills, which has been closed since the Museum Fire began on July 21, 2019 and burned more than 1,900 acres in the heart of this popular recreation area.
Although open again, the area still poses many dangers and hazards, so visitors should enter at their own risk and be aware of the possibility of falling trees, rolling rocks, and flash floods in the area--especially during high winds or when heavy precipitation is expected.
Elden Lookout Road (Forest Road 557) will temporarily remain closed to motor vehicles, but is open to pedestrian, equestrian, and bicycle traffic. Several construction and maintenance projects are planned for Elden Lookout Road in the coming months, which means heavy equipment and construction crews will be using the road frequently.
In addition, due to heavy post fire damage, Upper Oldham and upper portions of Brookbank Trails will remain closed until repairs can be made. Visitors are asked to obey posted signs in the burned area, including staying off closed trails.
Route Editor
Route Scout
But they're also not putting any resources in to save Dry Lake Hills.
