Cottonwood Ridge, Spoon and New Fire Starts – August 7, 2023, Daily Update

Public Information Line: 928-205-5752

Firefighters Reassigned to New Fires as Containment Increases

Cottonwood Ridge Fire Quick Facts

Acres: 345 Cause: Lightning Containment: 95% Start Date: July 23, 2023 Location: 4 miles south of Show Low, AZ Fuels: Timber, grass, brush

Spoon Fire Quick Facts Acres: 4,560 acres Cause: Lightning Containment: 80% Start Date: July 24, 2023 Location: 2.5 miles east of Highway 60 between Globe and Show Low, AZ. 11 miles southwest of Cedar Creek Fuels: Piñyon- Juniper, Manzanita, Grass, Cedar

Total personnel for all incidents: 232

Sunday, the weather remained hot and dry with winds gusts up to 20 mph. Crews continued to repair the containment lines by turning over dirt to make sure there were no hot spots near the fire’s edge. The Spoon Fire is 80% contained, and the Cottonwood Ridge fire remains at 95% contained. There were no new fires reported on Sunday. Crews continued mopping up the fire on Chediski Mountain. A hand crew and a dozer worked around the perimeter looking for hot spots and heat sources.

Cottonwood Ridge and Spoon fires: The excavators and hand crews continued repairing dozer lines and returning the land back to its natural state. On the Cottonwood Ridge fire crews are about 50% done with the repair process. Crews on the Spoon fire worked back up the hill from Carrizo Creek repairing the dozer line and have completed about 75 % of the work that needs to be completed.

Weather: The forecast for Monday calls for a 50% chance of thunderstorms and a possibility of new lighting strikes. Firefighters will remain prepared to respond to any new fire starts.

This will be the last update for Southwest Area Incident Management Team 5. The team will be turning management of these fires back to the Fort Apache Agency. The team would like to give a big thank you for allowing us to come into your community and we appreciate the warm welcome we received.

For More Information: For further updates regarding fires on the Fort Apache Reservation, please visit: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BIAFAAFireMgt/

More Information: For further updates regarding fires on the Fort Apache Reservation, please visit: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BIAFAAFireMgt/

Cottonwood Ridge, Snake Ridge, Spoon and New Start Fires – August 2, 2023, Daily Update

Public Information Line: 928-421-4579
Phone Line Hours: 8 am – 8 pm
Email: 2023.CottonwoodRidge@firenet.gov

Crews Make Additional Progress on Containment, Respond to New Starts

Cottonwood Ridge Fire Quick Facts
Acres: 345
Cause: Lightning
Containment: 50% Start Date: July 23, 2023
Location: 4 miles south of Show Low, AZ
Fuels: Timber, grass, brush

Spoon Fire Quick Facts
Acres: 4,560 acres
Cause: Lightning
Containment: 25% Start Date: July 24, 2023
Location: 2.5 miles east of Highway 60 between Globe and Show Low, AZ. 11 miles southwest of Cedar Creek
Fuels: Piñyon- Juniper, Manzanita, Grass, Cedar

Snake Ridge Fire Quick Facts
Acres: 42 acres
Cause: Lightning
Containment: 50% Start Date: July 28, 2023
Location: 11 miles southwest of Show Low, AZ.
Fuels: Grass, Brush

Total personnel for all incidents: 418

Monday’s rainfall helped the crews with gaining containment of the fires, but the accompanying thunderstorms resulted in nine additional new fire starts on Fort Apache. Five of the new fires are currently being managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Southwest Area Incident Management Team 5 (SWA IMT 5) is assisting with the remaining four.

The new starts include a two-acre fire southwest of the Snake Ridge Fire. A dozer in the area quickly constructed fireline around the entire perimeter, while air resources dropped buckets of water on heat sources. A separate new start was contained. Smoke was spotted about four miles north of the incident command post along highway 60 and crews responded. With the dry fuels, higher temperatures and low relative humidity forecasted in the coming days, we are expecting possible new starts and have firefighters ready for initial attack response.

Cottonwood Ridge Fire Update: Crews are continuing to work on improving firelines, mopping up areas and seeking out hotspots. Due to the lack of visible smoke, hotspots continue to be difficult to find by crews.

Spoon Fire Update: Fire crews detected minimum heat along the containment line of the fire, allowing them to increase containment on a small area of the fire along the hook on the southwest side of the fire. A dozer line was constructed above the northeast side of the fire, should it move to the north.

Snake Ridge Fire Update: The crews did great work on the fire yesterday with progress on mop up and line securement, resulting in an increase of containment by 25%. The fire is now 50% contained. Firefighters will continue to seek out hotspots and secure fireline to increase containment.

Weather: Warmer and drier weather is expected on Wednesday, with only isolated thunderstorms and showers.

Evacuations: None.

Residents and visitors should take time to become familiar with the Ready, Set, Go evacuation model.

Sign up for the Navajo County Alert System at https://tinyurl.com/y4vwrasw.

Smoke: Smoke may still be visible as pockets of heat continue to smolder. For information on smoke and air quality, visit https://www.airnow.gov.

Closures: Highway 60 remains open. The southwest portion of Fort Apache is closed, including all Salt River sites within the closure area.

Fire Restrictions: There are several fire restrictions in place depending on location.

Fort Apache Agency: Stage 2 Fire Restrictions: No campfires, fireworks, outdoor smoking, debris burning or discharging of firearms. Power saws cannot be used between 10 am and 8 pm. All motorized travel is restricted to developed roads.

Show Low, Navajo County and Apache Sitgreaves National Forests: Stage 1 Fire Restrictions: No campfires (except in developed recreation sites), no smoking outdoors, no welding, no fireworks.

For more Information:

Inciweb:
Cottonwood Ridge: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/azfta-cottonwood-ridge-fire

Spoon: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/azfta-spoon-fire

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BIAFAAFireMgt/