Sunday’s weather broke records across Arizona and came with extreme heat and low humidity. The conditions led to extreme fire behavior growing the Cedar Fire to approximately 14,000 acres yesterday, with all growth extending from the south side of the main fire.
According to the Arizona Emergency Information Network:
The current perimeter of the fire extends directly south and east of Highway60 across the Gila County/Navajo County boundary.
The eastern edge of the fire has crossed over the Cedar Creek drainage. The southern perimeter is still approximately 1 ½ miles east of Hwy 73, and approximately 2 ½ miles north of the Cedar Creek community has reached an area with more sparse vegetation.
The Community of Cedar Creek is under a pre-evacuation notice. The Incident Management Team is working closely with the White Mountain Apache Tribal Police and leadership from the White Mountain Apache Tribe to keep community members up to date. Fire crews staffed the area all night and will continue to today.
Community members that choose to leave the area now can go to either Snowflake High School or to the Eager Round Valley Dome. Livestock can be taken to the Taylor Rodeo Grounds or Holbrook Fair Grounds and small animals can be taken to Apache Eager Animal Control.
Early this morning, the winds did shift and are now coming from the south. The wind will limit future fire growth to the south. There is potential for the eastern flank to actively move through Cedar Creek drainage to the northeast. Firefighters were able to prepare and conduct burnout operations along the eastern flank of the fire near Faught Saddle, tying in a critical piece of the northeastern flank of the fire with completed line.
The Incident Management Team has identified new areas where they believe they can safely and effectively reengage and firefighters will be ground-truthing those options throughout the day today.
Fire crews will continue to work south along Hwy 60 to fortify the control points. In coordination with Navopache Electric, fire crews are looking for opportunities to conduct burnout operations along the highway. When they are able to conduct these operations, the electric cooperative may need to turn off the power line for a short time to provide for the safest possible environment for firefighters.
Navopache Electric Cooperative will notify affected residents prior to turning off power. On the eastern flank, fire crews will scout opportunities to tie in the road system to existing control features related to the 2015 Playground Fire.
With the recent growth of this fire the Incident Management Team has ordered additional resources to support continued suppression efforts. As of this morning, resources include 23 Fire Crews, 37 Engines, 7 Dozers, 11 Water Tenders, 7 Helicopters, 4 Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs) for a total of 770 personnel assigned to the incident.
The community is invited to hear directly from Incident Management leadership at 3 community meetings scheduled to take place today and Tuesday. Scheduled meetings include:
- June 20, 2016, 11:00am, Hon Dah Casino Conference Center, Whiteriver Conference room, 777 AZ-260, Pinetop, AZ
- June 20, 2016, 6:30pm, Blue Ridge High School, Main Auditorium, 1200 W. White Mountain Blvd., Lakeside, AZ
- June 21, 2016, 5:30pm, Show Low City Hall, Council Chamber, 181 N, 9th St. Show Low, AZ
The public can continue to get information on the Cedar Fire by calling the 311 Northeastern Arizona Public Information System at 928-333- 3412.
Official incident information will be posted online at the Cedar Fire InciWeb page (http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4788) and the Cedar Fire Information Facebook page (www.facebook.com/cedarfireinfo).
Cedar Creek Fire summary:
- Location: Southwest of Show Low and Pinetop-Lakeside, East of Highway 60 on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation
- Start date: Wednesday, June 15, 2016
- Size: Approximately 26,739 acres
- Percent Contained: Undetermined
- Cause: Unknown/Under Investigation
- Resources Assigned: Approximately 770 personnel