Location: 10 miles south of Young AZ,
Tonto National Forest
Size: Approximately 30,357 acres
Percent Contained: 20%
Cause: Lightning
Resources Assigned: 553 total personnel: 13 Crews, 7 Helicopters, 20 Engines, 3 Dozers, 8 Water Tenders and 1 Masticator
The Juniper Fire continues to effectively reduce fuel-loading on the forest floor and benefit the ecosystem by recycling much-needed nutrients into the soil. Yesterday, firefighters worked to minimize the eastward spread of the spot fire that occurred near the Cherry Creek drainage. Crews have been actively monitoring the northwestern section of the wildfire as it moves slowly down the slopes toward the creek bottom.
Today, burnout operations will be conducted on the southwestern portion of the fire in the Parker Creek area. Because fire burns at a lower severity when moving downhill, fire managers will initiate burnout operations at the top of hills to ensure that the fire will maintain low severity and slow movement downhill toward Highway 288. Fire managers anticipate working in this area for the next couple of days, after which they will reevaluate the closure of Highway 288.
Highway 288 remains closed 10 miles south of Young between mileposts 280 and 293. Forest Road 203 is closed as the fire has reached the Cherry Creek drainage. The town of Young is open for business and away from the fire area. Visitors can still access Pleasant Valley from the north by State Route 260 and Forest Road 512.
The Juniper Fire is fulfilling its natural role in the ecosystem to maintain forest health and
reduce fuel-loading. The forest needs frequent, low severity fire to restore wildlife habitat, promote healthy vegetation, reduce fuels and the risk of severe fire, and to create safer conditions for residents, visitors, and firefighters. Fire managers are taking opportunities to reintroduce low severity fire in the Sierra Anches Mountains.
Incident personnel and public safety are the main priority while managing the Juniper Fire and all wildland fires. Fire managers use sound risk management to weigh the probability of success against human life exposure and cost benefit. Firefighters are using a combination of point protection, direct, and indirect suppression strategies to achieve the desired results while minimizing risk. The closure of roads, campgrounds, and the general forest area around the Juniper Fire will be lifted when conditions are safe for public access.
The weather pattern will be changing due to sub-tropical moisture moving into the area. There is an increasing chance for showers and thunderstorms late Friday evening into Saturday.
Wildfires across the Southwest, including the Juniper Fire, continue to produce light to moderate smoke. For more information on how smoke can affect you, please visit: http://www.phoenixvis.net/PPMmain.aspx.
For more information on wildfires across the nation visit: www.inciweb.nwcg.gov. To receive notification of wildfires in your area sent to a cell phone visit Wildfires Near Me at: https://www.wildfiresnearme.wfmrda.com.
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