HikeArizona.COM

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4752/

Another lightning-caused fire being managed for resource benefit.

I jut got an email from the Blue Ridge Ranger Station:

There will be a fire closure put into place within the near future.

Given the location of the fire, this will likely restrict access to AZT#29 / Happy Jack.

I really hate to fuel the fires of the conspiracy theorists (pun intended), but it's hard to imagine that there was lightning at 8:45 am on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. We were hiking in the Peaks from early morning to late afternoon that day and never heard thunder once.

On the other hand, it's easy to imagine some dumb*** left their campfire burning on a holiday weekend. Supposedly on the Coconino NF alone there were 140+ fires left unattended last weekend (BTW, isn't it time to pass a law mandating a nasty fine and/or at least a short jail sentence for leaving a campfire burning in Arizona? Or is that too much "big government" for our lawmakers?).

FWIW, I'm not at all opposed to letting fires burn. But USFS should be honest about the causes.

The smoke we terrible yesterday along the Mormon Lake segment. Couldn't breath for the first half of the day. Not sure if it was from the same fire.

flagscott wrote:I really hate to fuel the fires of the conspiracy theorists (pun intended), but it's hard to imagine that there was lightning at 8:45 am on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. We were hiking in the Peaks from early morning to late afternoon that day and never heard thunder once.

On the other hand, it's easy to imagine some dumb*** left their campfire burning on a holiday weekend. Supposedly on the Coconino NF alone there were 140+ fires left unattended last weekend (BTW, isn't it time to pass a law mandating a nasty fine and/or at least a short jail sentence for leaving a campfire burning in Arizona? Or is that too much "big government" for our lawmakers?).

FWIW, I'm not at all opposed to letting fires burn. But USFS should be honest about the causes.

Any government is too big for our lawmakers. Except for themselves, of course...

DallinW wrote:Not sure if it was from the same fire.

That's probably from the Mormon Fire: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4737/

Weren't there storms up there early last weekend or late last week? If it was lightning, and sometimes they just estimate based on the location, and potential source, and so on, it could have started a day or 2 earlier, but not spread for a while. While there is a militarized and very industrial fire fighting complex, it is hardly suited to the management end, and really, the conspiracy over this stuff verges on the aluminum hat crowd.

The Pivot Rock fire started May 18th, by lightning. It was rainy, with thunderstorms, on that day.

The FS has released a description of the Reroute for AZT#29. I've attached the PDF.

The linked map features a rough trace of the reroute, following forest service roads.

http://hikearizona.com/map.php?MY=21056&M=6

Clints Well, Ariz — Access to C.C. Cragin (aka Blue Ridge) Reservoir is no longer restricted, Forest Road 751 is open, along with both sides of the reservoir.

The reservoir’s boat ramp remains open. The east section of the reservoir restrictions for boating activity have been removed. The public may still use the boat ramp and now can use the entire reservoir.

Forest Road 751—the main forest road that leads to the reservoir—was previously closed to vehicles at Rock Crossing Campground for public safety as firefighting equipment and personnel used the road in early June to battle a wildfire caused by an abandoned campfire. The closure was later modified to restrict usage of the east side of the reservoir, which is rescinded today.




The closure order in the area of the Jack fire has been modified today also. http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOC ... 504106.pdf

Glad to hear the road to the lake is open. Is the water level OK, been wanting to get my canoe out soon...

ALMAL wrote:Is the water level OK

Now that they pump water out all summer, it's less than ideal except for very early spring!

https://www.watershedmonitor.com/siteDe ... w_lwrverde

(That's down about 15 feet from April 1: https://www.watershedmonitor.com/LineTr ... &rngtyp=3m)