Schultz Fire on the San Francisco Peaks

[Jim]

http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1996/

INCIDENT UPDATED 40 MIN. AGO
Incident Overview

The Schultz Fire was reported at approximately 11:00 Sunday morning, and is located in the Schultz Pass area on the southeast side of the San Francisco Peaks. Crews are faced with hot, dry weather and high winds. As of 6:00 pm Forest officials believe the fire is approximately 5000 acres. Approximately 300 firefighters are on scene, additional fire resources are en route. Currently there are 8 air tankers and 5 helicopters assigned. The Southwest Type 1 Incident Management Team, Dugger Hughes Incident Commander, is en route and scheduled to assume management of the fire Monday, June 21 at 6:00 am.

Evacuations: Wupatki Trails subdivision; Timberline Estates subdivision, Sunset Crater National Monument; Second Chance Animal Shelter (animals safely evacuated to Fort Tuthill County Park); and there is no mandatory evacuation of Fernwood subdivision, although some residents have left.

Closures: State Highway 89 is closed from MP 433 (2.5 miles north of Sunset Crater National Monument) to Silver Saddle Road.

Basic Information
Incident Type Wildfire
Cause Unknown
Current Situation
Size 5,000 acres
Fuels Involved

Ponderosa pine, mixed conifer and pinyon-juniper
Fire Behavior

Very high rates of spread and high intensities observed. Spotting up to 1/2 mile.
Unit Information
USFS Shield
Coconino National Forest
U.S. Forest Service
1824 S. Thompson St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Incident Contact
Emergency Operations Center
Phone: 888-679-8393
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http://hikearizona.com/photoset.php?ID=11500

[Jim]

I'm loading video of the fire I shot while on the lower flank of Humphrey today as I approached the Cirque. Could people see this from other parts of the state? I saw a photo from Sedona that makes it look like it was in Sedona.
Youtube # 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc4Jz06Ufbo
#2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMMvF4XZi2g

[JimmyLyding]

We could see a lot of smoke coming from the Flagstaff area as we were coming south on SR 87 above Strawberry, but never had a good chance to check it out from a good viewpoint.

[JimmyLyding]

I guess next week would be a bad time to do the Weatherford-Kachina loop.... Bummer because that WAS one of the possibilities

[Jim]

I guess next week would be a bad time to do the Weatherford-Kachina loop.... Bummer because that WAS one of the possibilities

Yeah, don't expect to have access to that area until autumn, at the earliest. I actually expect a forest closure tomorrow.

[JimmyLyding]

Perhaps Kendrick will be cool by next Sunday. Either that or I'll have to drag my mom to the Pinals, and I don't even want to think about the ramifications of that!

[Jim]

Perhaps Kendrick will be cool by next Sunday. Either that or I'll have to drag my mom to the Pinals, and I don't even want to think about the ramifications of that!

The Eagle Rock Fire ought to be out by then.

[Jim]

I just saw a photo on the AZ Dailsun website that shows the fire did not burn up the west side of Schultz Peak. I hope this is the case and that the fire is not climbing the south face of the Peaks as I originally thought.

[hippiepunkpirate]

My parents could see the smoke cloud from near Zion National Park in Utah . I also expect a forest closure tomorrow, but do you really think until autumn, Jim?

[Jim]

My parents could see the smoke cloud from near Zion National Park in Utah . I also expect a forest closure tomorrow, but do you really think until autumn, Jim?

No, not now. When I wrote that 15 minutes ago or so I was working with my assumption that I had all day, and that was the fire had started west of Schultz pass and headed very quickly up Schultz Peak. Had that been the case there would have been an area closure to allow the forest to regrow during monsoon season. They almost always seem to open up areas to hunting in the fall. However, the photo from 39,000' feet shows that the fire blew through the pass and appears to have burned the Weatherford Trail/ Schultz Peak area very little. Good news for us.

http://www.azdailysun.com/news/local/ar ... 03286.html

[hippiepunkpirate]

Check this out: http://www.weather.gov/sat_loop.php?image=vis&hours=12

[Jim]

Wow, that got all the way to Silverton, CO before the sun set.

[azbackpackr]

Who needs CNN? I just tune into HAZ!

My daughter called after driving back to her home in Flag. She said from her house, right by the historic district in Flag the fire glow on the mtn. is very bright orange. She also remarked on the sunset she viewed as she drove west on I-40.

[paulhubbard]

Reminds me of the Eldon fire... Had to be human caused, there were no storms Sunday. I was downtown and saw the cloud grow - what a shame.

[hikeaz]

We were camped at Schultz Pass Friday & Saturday nights, hiking to the summit via Weatherford on Saturday and over on the Sunset Trail side on Sunday. When the fire first broke out it appeared as if it was just a small dust devil. (Yeah, i know, all fires start small). We were at the Schultz Pass T/H as the fire personel arrived. Shortly, the air crane was sucking water from Schultz Tank about once a minute. (I suppose that the silver lining is that Schultz Tank was so close to the fire and supplied all the water they could use, although it doesn't seem to have slowed the fire down much).
The fire started just NE (by a few feet) of Schultz Tank and jumped Schultz Tank Road within a few minutes, heading northeast. There were no storms, so my supposition is that it was started by an unattended campfire.
I hear that they arrested someone for the Little America fire and I hope that they find who is responsible for the Schultz fire, but regardless, the forest will never be the same - the damage is done. I can see the temptation for the NFS to institute campfire bans in all forests because of the almost instantaneous destruction if one gets out of control, but it's really stupid people who cause fires, not campfires.

[fricknaley]

@hikeaz

did the weatherford trail burn?

[hikeaz]

@hikeaz

did the weatherford trail burn?

Best I could tell, the fire stayed east of the lower portions of the Weatherford, but with all the smoke and no good visible landmarks, it was tough to say.
Thinking that it may be consumed, we commented to each other that we may end up being the last folks to hike it pre-fire. Let's hope not. Let's pray that it was untouched.

[joebartels]

it's really stupid people who cause fires, not campfires

amen, the sad part is effective prevention measures are being ignored too
Apparently Kendrick's lookout is volunteer and no one volunteered this year. The Eagle Rock Fire would have been an easy spot...


Do hope the Elden lookout is/was manned this year.

[hikeaz]

When I was @ Kendrick 2-3 weeks ago it was manned. I heard from the volunteer there that Coconino NF is looking for additional fire-spotters. I posted the info on how to volunteer on an earlier post in another thread somewhere.
The Schultz fire was spotted by Elden L.O.

[hippiepunkpirate]

The Elden L.O. has been manned the last couple years by some paranoid nutjob.