Fort brush fire contained, 1,400 acres burned

Sierra Vista Herald ^ | Derek Jordan

[SandRat]

SIERRA VISTA — A brush fire scorched more than a thousand acres and threatened homes on Fort Huachuca after burning throughout the day and into the evening Wednesday, leading to some residents being notified to be prepared for a possible evacuation, though one was never ordered.

The fire was first reported at Range 10 shortly before 10:50 a.m. and is believed to have been started during training.

“There was a military unit conducting weapons qualifications on the range,” said Angela Camara, public affairs office for Fort Huachuca.

The fire soon spread toward Garden Canyon Road, leading to its closure, while multiple local and federal fire services responded to the scene to aid in fire suppression from the ground and air, including the Fry and Palominas fire districts, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and Fort Huachuca’s own fire and emergency service personnel.

By mid-afternoon, fire personnel seemed to have the upper hand, with nearly 100 percent containment, in part to controlled burns designed to use up fuels ahead of the fire, which had burned an estimated 700 acres.

However, by 5:30, the fire had jumped a road near the intersections of Winrow Avenue, Allison Road and Garden Canyon Road. This growth caused Fort Huachuca officials to contact residents in the Signal Village and Coronado Village housing areas, a total of 89 homes.

“We have issued a pre-evacuation notice to the housing areas closest to the fire,” Camara said Wednesday afternoon.

An emergency operations center was established to help coordinate efforts by Fort Huachuca and assisting agencies.

“We have multiple aircraft dropping water and slurry,” she said.

Several traffic restrictions were enacted as a result of the fire, including the early closure of the Buffalo Soldier Gate to all traffic, and the closure of Winrow Avenue and Allison Road east of the Lakeside Pavilion. All traffic onto and off of the Army post was being directed through the Van Deman Gate during this time.

At about 7:45 p.m. fort officials announced that, after 1,400 acres had been burned, the fire was under control. Firefighters were set to remain at the scene of the fire throughout the night.

Sustained winds of more than 20 m.p.h. and gusts as high as 37 m.p.h. recorded at Libby Army Airfield since 10 a.m. likely hampered the efforts of fire crews. For much of the day, Sierra Vista was under a red flag warning and wind advisory, which lasted until 7 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

Camara said that normal fire prevention procedures were in place during Wednesday’s training, in that two fire brush trucks were at the range. However the weapon thought to have sparked the fire, a .50-caliber round striking a rock, occurred down range and inside a small valley, giving the fire time to grow unnoticed before fire personnel observed it and the training stopped to allow them to get down range.

While lower wind speeds and increased humidity were expected to reduce the amount of smoke from the smoldering fire scene overnight, Camara said that an increase in smoke was expected this morning as winds pick up and humidity decreases.

Normal gate hours and access were expected to resume on Thursday.

[SandRat]