There is a road closure on state route 386, additionally, Kit Peak is in GO status .

 

There is a road closure on state route 386, additionally, Kit Peak is in GO status .

Location: western side of Burros Mountains, in Park Canyon and Kelly Chimney Canyon, Grant County, NM

 

Start Date: June 20, 2021        Size: ~633 acres               Cause: Lightning

Vegetation: Pinyon Juniper and grass                               Total Personnel: 6          

Containment: 65%

 

Resources:  1 Type 6 engine  

 

Summary:  The strategy for this fire was full suppression with a confine and contain strategy, to protect the private inholdings along the Redrock Road, and limit impacts to range infrastructure.  The incident has transitioned back to the Type 4 Incident Command Team and will be in patrol status. No further updates will be sent out unless significant changes occur.

 

Objectives : Provide for public and firefighter safety.  Protect private inholdings and range infrastructure.

Announcement: If you visit the Gila National Forest, remember that fire danger is very high and Stage 1 Fire Restrictions are in effect. For detailed information, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/gila/alerts-notices.

Location: western side of Burros Mountains, in Park Canyon and Kelly Chimney Canyon, Grant County, NM

 

Start Date: June 20, 2021        Size: ~100 acres   Cause: Lightning

Vegetation: Pinyon Juniper and grass                               Total Personnel: 16        

Containment: 0%

 

Resources:  3 Type 6 engines, 1 Type 4 engine, and 1 Type 2 Initial Attack Crew

 

Summary:  The strategy for this fire is full suppression with a confine and contain strategy, to protect the private inholdings along the Redrock Road, and limit impacts to range infrastructure. There has been no growth on the west and south side of the fire. Resources worked on the east and northeast side of the fire to stop fire spread using a Type 1 helicopter with ground resources working the fire’s edge.  The 5000-acres Bar 6 Prescribed Fire (2021) will limit fire spread to the east and help limit impacts to the Oak Grove subdivision. 

 

Objectives : Provide for public and firefighter safety.  Protect private inholdings and range infrastructure.

 

Weather: Hot and dry conditions are expected this afternoon and for the next 2-5 days. No moisture is predicted for the upcoming week other than isolated thunderstorms.

 

Announcement: If you visit the Gila National Forest, remember that fire danger is very high and Stage 1 Fire Restrictions are in effect. For detailed information, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/gila/alerts-notices.

Location: western side of Burros Mountains, in Park Canyon and Kelly Chimney Canyon, Grant County, NM

 

Start Date: June 20, 2021        Size: ~200-300 acres     Cause: Lightning

Vegetation: Pinyon Juniper and grass                               Total Personnel: 15        

Containment: 0%

 

Resources:  2 Type 6 and 1 Type 4 engines

 

Summary:  The strategy for this fire is full suppression with a confine and contain strategy, to protect the private inholdings along the Redrock Road, and limit impacts to range infrastructure. Due to the rugged terrain, firefighters are using a mix of direct and indirect tactics to contain the fire and protect values at risk. Today, firefighters will work to keep the fire north of the Redrock Road and scout opportunities to engage the fire south of Bullard Peak. The 5000-acres Bar 6 Prescribed Fire (2021) will limit fire spread to the east and help limit impacts to the Oak Grove subdivision. 

 

Objectives : Provide for public and firefighter safety.  Protect private inholdings and range infrastructure.

 

Weather: Hot conditions with thunderstorms are expected this afternoon. Sudden and erratic strong wind gusts could develop near storms. Temperatures today should be somewhat cooler than yesterday, with hotter temperatures returning Wednesday.

 

Announcement: If you visit the Gila National Forest, remember that fire danger is very high and Stage 1 Fire Restrictions are in effect. For detailed information, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/gila/alerts-notices.

BAER Information:

Chad Yocum, BAER Team Leader 928-443-8082                                                                                                                 \
David Moore, BAER Coordinator 928-713-9028


BAER Team Assessment of Rafael Fire Impacts


PRESCOTT, AZ – July 11, 2021 - A BAER team was established to begin a burned area assessment of the Rafael wildfire. BAER assessments are rapid evaluations of the burned area to identify unacceptable risks on National Forest Service (NFS) lands from post-fire threats and assist land managers in preparing the burned area prior to the first damaging weather event. The team’s focus is on the emergency actions necessary to protect life and safety, property and critical natural and cultural resources on NFS lands. The team also shares burned area information from the assessment with other federal, state and local agencies with post-fire responsibilities on state and private lands both within and downstream of burned areas, including USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), National Weather Service (NWS), and US Geological Survey (USGS).
 
BAER teams consist of scientists and specialists including hydrologists, geologists, soil scientists, engineers, botanists, biologists, archeologists and geographic information specialists. The teams collect data during ground surveys and complete GIS and modelling to evaluate the post-fire risks. The first step in the BAER assessment process is taking satellite imagery and data collected during ground surveys to produce a soil burn severity map. The soil burn severity provides the baseline information to determine changed watershed conditions for assessing potential watershed impacts from wildfires. This information is then compiled and presented to Forest Leadership along with recommended BAER emergency stabilization treatments in a BAER assessment report.
 
The Rafael Fire BAER team has completed its analysis of the fire’s effect on soils, which shows that 63.1% of the fire burned at low severity, 18.6% of the fire burned in moderate severity, 7.2% of the fire burned at high severity and 10.9% unburned.  Given the location of the fire footprint, final assessments indicate high risk within Sycamore Canyon Wilderness and the downstream drainage to the confluence with the Verde River.  Any potential post fire risk includes hazard trees, stump holes, falling rocks, debris flows and possible flooding with runoff risk to values and property downstream.  The BAER team analysis supported no mulching or seeding in Sycamore Canyon due to the terrain and vegetation type.  Therefore, there will be no additional treatments other than maintaining the closure area, installing post warning signs to inform the public of post wildfire hazards and completing post storm inspection for identified roads and trails.     

Everyone near and downstream from the Rafael Fire burned area should remain alert and stay updated on weather conditions that may result in heavy rains over the area. Flash flooding could occur quickly during heavy rain events. 

 
REMINDER:  The Rafael Fire Area Closure is still in effect on the Prescott, Coconino and Kaibab National Forests.  Detailed information and a map are available on Inciweb at Rafael Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System (nwcg.gov)
 

  Order Number: 03-09-00-21-281

 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOREST SERVICE

PRESCOTT NATIONAL FOREST, CHINO VALLEY RANGER DISTRICT KAIBAB NATIONAL FOREST, WILLIAMS RANGER DISTRICT COCONINO NATIONAL FOREST, RED ROCK RANGER DISTRICT AND FLAGSTAFF RANGER DISTRICT

 

TEMPORARY CLOSURE FOR THE RAFAEL FIRE

 

PROHIBITIONS

  Pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 551 and 36 C.F.R. § 261.50(a), the following acts are prohibited within the area described in this Order (the “Restricted Area”) and as depicted in the attached map, hereby incorporated into this Order as Exhibit A, within the Prescott National Forest, Chino Valley Ranger District; Coconino National Forest, Flagstaff Ranger District and Red Rock Ranger District; and the Kaibab National Forest, Williams Ranger District, Coconino County and Yavapai County, Arizona.   1. Going into or being upon the Restricted Area. 36 C.F.R. § 261.52(e) EXEMPTIONS Pursuant to 36 C.F.R. §261.50(e), the following persons are exempt from the provisions in this Order:   1.     Persons with a written Forest Service authorization specifically exempting them from the effect of this Order.   2.     Any Federal, State, or local officer, member of an organized rescue or firefighting force, in the performance of official duty.   3.     Residents using roads in the Restricted Area to the extent necessary to access their private property.  

RESTRICTED AREA

  The Restricted Area includes all National Forest System lands, roads, and trails within the boundary starting on the Kaibab NF at the intersection of National Forest System Road (FR) 109 and FR 13, then continuing easterly along FR 13 for approximately 2.25 miles to FR 56, then continuing south and east along FR 56, approximately 2 miles to the center of the northern boundary line of Township 20N, Range 3E, Section 4, then following south along private lands to the east to FR 859, then following FR 859 to FR 527, then continuing east along FR 527 for
approximately 4 miles to FR 538, then following south along FR 538 approximately 9 miles to the intersection of FR 538 and FR 9019G, then continuing southeast along FR 9019G to FR 538A, then continuing on FR 538A to its terminus, then following a line directly south approximately .1 miles to the Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness Boundary, then continuing along the wilderness boundary for approximately 3 miles to Mooney Canyon, then following generally west to National Forest System Trail #12 (NFST) Mooney Canyon Trail, then continuing south along the Mooney Canyon Trail approximately 6 miles to FR 525C, then following FR 525C to the junction with NFST #116 (the Dogie Trail), then continuing north and west along the Dogie Trail approximately 3.5 miles to the northern boundary of Township 18N, Range 3E, Section 23, then continuing west along the section boundary approximately .5 miles to the bottom of Sycamore Creek, then following the bottom of Sycamore Creek south for approximately 6 miles to the Verde River, then following generally west along the Verde River for approximately 10 miles to County Rd (CR) 70, then following CR 70 north and west to CR 71, then following CR 71 to its intersection with FR 354, then continuing north along FR 354 approximately 3 miles to FR 930, then following FR 930 to the intersection of the Prescott NF and Kaibab NF forest boundary, then continuing east along the Kaibab/Prescott NF boundary approximately 7 miles to FR 125, then following FR 125 north approximately 2.5 miles to FR105, then following east along FR 105 approximately 6 miles to FR 12, then following north along FR12 for approximately 4 miles to the constructed fire perimeter control line along the east side of FR 12 in Township 20N, Range 3E, Section 18, continuing north approximately 2.5 miles back to FR 12, then continuing along FR 12 for approximately .5 miles to intersection of FR12 and FR109, continuing north approximately 2 miles, back to the point of beginning at the intersection FR 109 and FR 13.

 

Note: All perimeter roads and trails are open for travel and are not restricted by the effect of this Order.  

PURPOSE

  The purpose of this Order is to provide for the public’s health and safety due to fire activity in the Restricted Area for the management of the Rafael Fire, as Depicted on Exhibit A.  

IMPLEMENTATION

  1.     This Order will be effective on July 6, 2021, at 12:00 PM, and shall remain in effect until October 31, 2021, or until rescinded, whichever comes first.   2.     A map identifying the Restricted Area is attached and made part of this Order as Exhibit A. For a digital version of the Order map for the Coconino NF, go to https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/coconino/alerts-notices.   3.     Any violation of this prohibition is punishable as a Class B misdemeanor by a fine of not more than $5,000 for an individual or $10,000 for an organization, or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both (see 16 U.S.C. § 551, 18 U.S.C. § 3571(b)(6), 18 U.S.C. § 3581(b)(7)).   4.     Further information regarding this Order may be obtained at the Kaibab National Forest Supervisor’s Office at 800 S. 6th Street in Williams, Arizona, 928-635-8200.
Prescott National Forest Supervisor’s Office in Prescott at (928) 777-2200, the Coconino National Forest Supervisor’s Office in Flagstaff, Arizona, telephone number (928) 527- 3600, the Flagstaff Ranger District located in Flagstaff, Arizona, telephone number (928) 526-0866, and at the Red Rock Ranger District located in Sedona, Arizona, telephone number (928) 203-2900.   5.     This Order supersedes any previous Orders prohibiting the same acts covered by this Order.

 

  

  

Fire Information Public Phone Line: (928) 421-4579                Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7567/

Email: 2021.Rafael@firenet.gov                                                Twitter: https://twitter.com/RafaelFireInfo/

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

 

                                     Final Rafael Fire Morning Update – July 5, 2021

   
Acres: 78,065
Percent Containment: 95%
Date/Time Detected: Friday, 06/18/2021 at 1927 MST Structures Damaged/Destroyed:  1
Number of Personnel: 67
Cause: Lightning
Origin/Location: 4 miles north of Perkinsville

 

This will be the final daily update from the Rafael Fire.  According to Incident Commander Troy Mueller, fire managers at Coconino, Kaibab, and Prescott National Forests will assume management of the Rafael Fire Tuesday morning at 6 a.m.

 

Firefighters are nearing completion of the suppression repair work and road mending.  Interior pockets well within the fire perimeter will continue to smolder and smoke. Forest Service firefighters will continue to patrol the perimeter and keep a watchful eye on the fire.  The Burned Area Emergency Response team is in place and is continuing assessing burn severity over the entire fire.

 

All communities affected by the fire are in “READY evacuation status.  However, all areas within the Coconino, Kaibab and Prescott National Forests remain closed to entry, regardless of evacuation status. Questions concerning Forest closures should be directed to each respective Forest.  Updates to Forest closures can be found at Coconino National Forest - Alerts & Notices (usda.gov)    Kaibab National Forest - Alerts & Notices (usda.gov).

and Prescott National Forest - Alerts & Notices (usda.gov).

  

Information about evacuation status can be found on the Coconino County Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/CoconinoCounty and at the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/YavapaiCountySheriff/  Maps of evacuation status in Coconino County can be found at: Coconino County Situational Awareness Viewer (arcgis.com)

It’s fire season in Northern Arizona. Residents in Northern Arizona should be Ready.  https://ein.az.gov/ready-set-go

 

Full forest closures on the Kaibab National Forest and Coconino National Forest will end Tuesday, July 6, at 6:00 am. The Prescott National Forest Closure will end Friday morning, according to Debbie Maneely, Public Affairs Officer. Closures around the fire area will continue.   Coconino National Forest - Alerts & Notices (usda.gov)    Kaibab National Forest - Alerts & Notices (usda.gov).

and Prescott National Forest - Alerts & Notices (usda.gov)

All Arizona State Trust lands are closed. Fire Restrictions and Closures Across Arizona | Department of Forestry and Fire Management (az.gov)

 

Smoke forecasts are available at Wildfire Smoke Forecast | ADEQ Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (azdeq.gov) and https://fires.airfire.org/outlooks/NorthCentralArizona.

 

This is the final daily update from the Raphael Fire.

  

What is the difference between soil burn severity, fire or burn severity, vegetation mortality, and fire intensity?

Soil Burn Severity (SBS) is the fire-induced changes in physical, chemical, and biological soil properties that impact hydrological and biological soil functions; the classification of post-fire soil based on fire-induced changes in properties. These changes include the depth of char (a downward heat pulse into the soil), loss of organic matter through consumption of duff, litter, and fine roots, altered surface color, damage to soil structure, and reduced infiltration.

Burn severity can vary across the fire area depending on topography, weather conditions, fuel types, and rate of fire spread. When organic materials on the ground and within the soil structure burn hot and slow, they form a layer on the surface and within the soil, reducing the ability of water to move downward into the soil and resulting in an increase in surface runoff. The degree of soil burn severity is dependent on the peak temperatures and duration of those temperatures within the soil. Observable post-fire ground parameters are often used to classify soil burn severity.

BAER teams, when evaluating the need for post-fire stabilization treatments, are particularly interested in the post-fire soil properties that impact soil hydrological functions as these changes are associated with increased potential for flooding and erosion. Satellite imagery is often used to produce Burned Area Reflectance Classification (BARC) maps which are then field verified with ground data collection. Field verification of soil burn severity may include a general inspection of ground parameters, testing for soil water repellency, and examination of changes in fine root characteristics. The correct use of the soil burn severity map created in the BAER process is to predict accelerated risk of runoff and erosion.

The most important purpose of a soil burn severity map (see attached) in a BAER assessment is to identify areas of impaired soil function. The soil burn severity map is the key element in determining if threats exist. It is not a map of vegetation mortality, or timber mortality, nor does it represent a composite of fire effects to all resources. It is not a temporal geospatial representation of ecological condition, nor does it reflect a historical range in variability for the fire regimes over a landscape.

Fire or burn severity is also commonly used in a more general sense in the post-fire community. The term fire severity was born out of the need to provide a description of how fire intensity affected ecosystems, particularly following wildfires where direct information on fire intensity was absent and effects are often quite variable within and between different ecosystems. In this more general terminology, fire severity is the effect of a fire on ecosystem properties, usually defined by the degree of soil heating or mortality of vegetation.

The severity of a fire depends on the fire intensity and the degree to which ecosystem properties are fire resistant.  For example, a fire of exactly the same fireline intensity might kill thin-barked trees but have little effect on thick-barked trees.  Therefore, fire severity is, in part, a function of the ecosystem being burned and is not simply indexed from fireline intensity.  If a fire has a long residence time, fire severity will usually increase.  Forest ecologists define severity by the degree of overstory plant mortality.

Tree mortality has been widely used as a measure of fire severity in conifer forests in North America that historically have been exposed to low-severity or mixed-severity fire regimes where normally there is substantial tree survival. Although the thresholds are subjective, in general, overstory mortality below approximately 30 percent is considered low severity, 30 to 70 percent is considered moderate severity, and greater than 70 percent is considered high severity.

Fire intensity is another term commonly used when discussing fire impacts. Fire intensity is defined as the amount of energy or heat release per unit time and describes the physical combustion process of energy release from organic matter. There are several different metrics and intensity measures used to describe fire intensity. 

Rafael Fire Update
July 04, 2021 
Fire Information Public Phone Line: (928) 421-4579
Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7567/
Email: 2021.Rafael@firenet.gov
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RafaelFireInfo/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RafaelFireInfo/

Rafael Fire Morning Update – July 4, 2021

Acres: 78,065

Percent Containment: 95%

Date/Time Detected: Friday, 06/18/2021 at 1927 MST Structures Damaged/Destroyed: 1Number of Personnel: 113

Cause: Lightning

Origin/Location: 4 miles north of Perkinsville

Happy birthday America. Firefighters on the Rafael Fire continue their diligence in wrapping up and delivering the management of the fire from the incident management team back to fire officials on the Coconino, Kaibab, and Prescott National Forests.

Much of the fire received rain yesterday and increased containment to 95%. Although hindered by the wet conditions, most of the suppression repair work has been completed and despite the rain, interior areas of the fire will continue to smolder and smoke. The Burned Area Emergency Response team is in place and is continuing assessing burn severity over the entire fire. Firefighters continue to patrol the perimeter.

All communities affected by the fire are in “READY evacuation status. However, all areas within the Coconino, Kaibab, and Prescott National Forests remain closed to entry, regardless of evacuation status. Questions concerning Forest closures should be directed to each respective Forests. Updates to Forest closures can be found at Coconino National Forest - Alerts & Notices (usda.gov) Kaibab National Forest - Alerts & Notices (usda.gov). and Prescott National Forest - Alerts & Notices (usda.gov).

Information about evacuation status can be found on the Coconino County Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/CoconinoCounty and at the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/YavapaiCountySheriff/ Maps of evacuation status in Coconino County can be found at: Coconino County Situational Awareness Viewer (arcgis.com) It’s fire season in Northern Arizona. Residents in Northern Arizona should be Ready. https://ein.az.gov/ready-set-go

Full forest closures are in effect on the Kaibab National Forest, Coconino National Forest, and Prescott National Forest Coconino National Forest - Alerts & Notices (usd 
 
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