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Well, here we go...

A fire out past Doney Park, northeast of Flagstaff, is fairly close to where I spend my summers. I was going to move my car there tomorrow. But I guess I won't be moving it there just yet. I'll park it somewhere else.

And... a friend and I were going to start a little bicycle tour over by Prescott, on Thursday. But part of our route is under a closure, due to the Crooks fire.

@hikeaz
And Coronado has lifted them too. Haven't seen any updates from Tonto, but Prescott has reiterated that it has not received much rain. Both of those remain in stage 2.

Below is a facebook post from a sheriff's office in Utah regarding some arrests made for individuals starting a forest fire. I wish that Arizona would do something similar -- I think that it would act as a deterrent if people were more aware that actions have consequences.

70-plus acre Casner Fire, north of Beaver Creek Wilderness

[ Casner Fire :: map ]

SEDONA, Ariz., July 12, 2022 – Resources are responding to the 70-plus acre Casner Fire, located north of Beaver Creek Wilderness.

Resources on scene include air attack, two Type 1 helicopters, two single-engine air tankers, two large air tankers, one engine, two Hotshot crews and a fuels crew.

The fire is currently moving in a north/northeast direction.

No structures are threatened at this time.

Scattered thunderstorms in the area are causing erratic winds which will affect fire behavior and direction, as well as air and ground resources. There is a 50 percent chance of precipitation in the area over the next few hours.

Smoke is dissipating rapidly, but impact may be felt at night as it settles into the Verde Valley, depending on wind direction.

The fire was reported at 10:55 a.m. and its cause is under investigation.

2800 acre, lightning caused fire in Deer Lake Canyon (tributary of Chevelon Canyon), north of Woods Canyon Lake
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8217/

Expect closures in the area, nothing yet posted.

@nonot
This one is basically over. No public access closures, just a temporary flight restriction as they were using FS drones to drop ignitions in the interior. Transitioning to a type 4 team ... it's mop up time.

@chumley
I would anticipate restrictions/closures of a section of FR180, and a few other roads in the area, as it's still actively burning along the road...probably in an area few care about, but I figured I'd mention it as HAZzers are the most likely to venture there.

chumley wrote: drop ignitions

What are 'ignitions' in this context? Tried googling but, as you can imagination, the word 'ignition' associated with fire isn't the most helpful
edit: nm. Guess my google skills were fine, just didn't trust it was that simple at first I guess. Suppose it's to clear out remaining fuels?

@xsproutx

Helicopters and unmanned drones were utilized in the tactical firing operations and dropped more than 3000 PSD (plastic sphere dispensers) spheres to burn unburned fuels in the interior of the fire perimeter where it is unsafe to place fire crews. These technologies allow for reduced risk to firefighter lives and wellbeing.

It's similar to backburning, but instead of firefighters on the ground with torches, they just drop explosive ping pong balls.

In my opinion, these are often used as an excuse to "treat" an area in the proximity of a "natural" fire where the typical red tape involved with getting approval for a "prescribed" burn is much more complicated. There are examples of this happening in Arizona where a casual observer like me believes that the FS ignitions to an otherwise low-impact lightning fire became a far more destructive and larger fire. There are few official documents or communications available to support these unproven theories. The Oak Fire in the Galiuros and Frye Fire in the Pinalenos are frequent targets of such speculation.

FWIW, here's a photo of one of these aerial incendiary devices: [ photo ]

chumley wrote:It's similar to backburning, but instead of firefighters on the ground with torches, they just drop explosive ping pong balls.

I bet I know what they will need next....

I heard via the social media grapevine that the Casner Fire was rained on enough to basically extinguish it.

@azbackpackr

SEDONA, Ariz., July 13, 2022 – The Casner Fire is now 50 percent contained at roughly 75 acres following a day of rain and suppression efforts.

The fire, which originated north of Beaver Creek Wilderness (GPS coordinates: 34°41'18.4"N 111°39'28.4"W) is currently staffed by two engines, one Hotshot crew and one hand crew.

Fire behavior is minimal with smoldering within the perimeter and there is no visible smoke impact.

Yesterday's aerial retardant drops and bucket drops -- as well as significant rainfall -- aided ground operations.

Crews will continue to secure the fire's perimeter.

The fire was reported at 10:55 a.m. July 12. It was caused by lightning.

@chumley
I guess John Parsons was more or less correct

CannondaleKid wrote: ↑Jun 13 2022 7:04 pm

The_Eagle wrote:he's a homeless guy from Louisiana

If convicted he won't be homeless any more...

https://fronterasdesk.org/content/17949 ... rea-arrest

The man accused of starting a fire yards away from where the Pipeline Fire exploded in the San Francisco Peaks above Flagstaff last month pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor charge Wednesday. ... Matthew Riser faced three misdemeanor counts, a marijuana charge, living in the national forest, and a count for starting a fire where none were allowed. The U.S. government agreed to drop the residence and the marijuana charges. A federal judge sentenced him to one year probation for the lone remaining charge.

chumley wrote:The U.S. government agreed to drop the residence and the marijuana charges. A federal judge sentenced him to one year probation for the lone remaining charge.

a slap on th wrist for torching 26,500+ acres. What forest is he going to live in next?

@The_Eagle
Looking at the charges, sentencing and restitution of fires like Sunflower, Wallow and the Rodeo/Chediski shows an inconsistency in legal outcomes. Leonard Gregg got 10 years in prison, charged by the Apache court and Valinda Jo Elliott was not charged. The White Mountain Apache did take her to court and sued her for $1,650 in civil penalties and $57 million in restitution. Steven Craig Shiflet got probation and I couldn't find if there was restitution. I've always wondered if the wedding ever happened. Wallow also was probation of 2 years and a $3.7 million dollar restitution. Chump change for a $79 million dollar fire and just how much can people really pay back? It's not like we have forest fire insurance in the event we start one.

No penalty assessed can equal the destruction of a massive fire. Understandably it isn't really palatable to incarcerate somebody for 20 years when such occurrences are "accidents" of negligence, rather than arson.

Enforcement must occur BEFORE a catastrophic fire, not after. If there were real penalties assessed to those violating restrictions, human-caused fires could be significantly reduced because it would effectively change behavior. There should be zero-tolerance for it, with penalties akin to DUI ... mandatory jail time on a first offense, and it should cost thousands of dollars to those involved. Period.

Just yesterday I saw somebody with a huge fire in the lower-salt area. Tonto is in stage 2. But who's out there doing anything about it?

The above is generally why I have become a little resistant to forest closures in the name of protecting our forest lately. Its hard to sell the importance of a forest closure and keeping the public out to protect the forest, when you do absolutely nothing to the people you literally catch red handed starting these fires. And they always act like well our hands are tied, the law says this, the crime is only that, blah blah.

Well put some amplifiers on those chargers, there is a precedent for it, there are varying levels of murder, there are varying levels of murder involving fire arms, amplifiers are put on sentences involving the vulnerable etc. I mean there is a different punishment for being pulled over drunk vs killing someone drunk. Why not apply that to these situations. For example, getting caught with an illegal fire that is one year probation. Your illegal fire burns down 20k acres, that is five years. And at the end of the day it is all about enforcement as Chums points out, patrol the woods, instead of parking a forest service truck at the TH to Humphreys on Saturday to remind the normies to carry water, how about that truck never stops moving from the moment that FS employee clocks in, literally, 8 hour patrols all day, up and down woods. Actually, do something about these assholes living in the woods too. I could probably go out today in any national forest north of the rim and find 20 squatters, are they incapable of this? Do they need directions on how to get to these campsites?

Finally, A.S. does well in general, but our forests are negligently and poorly managed. Go to somewhere like Idaho or Montana and you will see our forests are basically managed by the B squad down here. If you check in at the ranger office in Stanley Idaho and ask about trail conditions, they will bust out a map, they will go over things with you, they will talk about personal experiences etc. I think if you tried the same at most FS field offices in AZ, you may get directions to a paved rec site, if you are lucky, but no chance you will talk to someone who actually goes into the woods or is knowledgeable about what you are asking about. AZ must be where FS employees go, who cant get jobs in real mountains. I was parked about 15 minutes at my car camping site in Idaho, when an FS employee pulled up to get out and explain fire regs to me, human waste burial procedures and camping limits to me. I can confirm that that same guy spent at least 8 hours of his day on that road, as I saw him leave at the end of the day. I mean really this clown who started the Flag fire was living in those woods, probably 20 minutes from pavement and nobody noticed, that would not happen in the Sawtooths, probably not the Bitterroots either. They actually patrol and enforce. Until that starts to happen down here, nothing will change.

Seems that closer to cities that the bureaucrat-to-worker ratio increases dramatically. I must second the Idaho Forest crew(s) - every FS person I have ever encountered on my annual ID. trips has been, helpful and knowledgeable. I might add that the WMA forests are VERY well managed as far as taking care of the woods, likely even better than ID by some degree.

Coming home from the Rim via Payson, saw a fire under the powerlines NW of Rye on the AZ Trail, near Alder Spring.

@Alston_Neal
I believe that is the Walnut Fire