Rodeo and Chediski Fires merging near Show Low, AZ

CNN

[newsperson999]

Thousand more may need to be evacuated. This is a worst case scenario because the fire is forming a 50 mile long wall of flames. Forest firefighters are being redeployed to join local firefighters and focusing their efforts on saving homes.

[dittomom]

It's so sad. Heard the report that the firefighters were within half a mile of finishing a firebreak that would have kept the fire from getting through the canyon near Show Low - then things got too dangerous and they had to give up. Hope there will be some better news from the next update...

[Raymond Hendrix]

Perhaps the signal fire was contained (by clearing brush in the area) and the helicopter spread it during the rescue?

[dittomom]

Jim Paxson on for an update - this guy is a good spokesman. He now says that the infrared report tells them that the Rodeo fire is just under 200K acres and the Chedeski fire is just under 100K acres. Sounds like they are still two separate fires...

[Angelique]

I am veru impressed with Ferguson. Indeed, I am very impressed with the whole crew. Unfortunately, from my short stint, here, I think rain is a very slim chance.

[Semper911]

Here is the latest on azrepublic.com: (Bold mine)

Charred acreage at nearly 300,000 acres; fire to hit Show Low soon

Judd Slivka, Pat Flannery, Kristin Go June 23, 2002 11:05:00

SHOW LOW - Two huge wildfires raging through northeastern Arizona have exploded to a total of nearly 300,000 acres, fire officials said Sunday morning, with the larger blaze expected to hit Show Low by afternoon or Monday morning.

Cautioned operations section chief Buck Wickham, "That's a projection, and this fire has done nothing that we've projected yet."

Show Low on Sunday was a smoky, deserted town under a thick gray sky. Traffic lights were blinking on streets empty of traffic except for police cars and fire trucks - some from the Valley.

Businesses were shuttered, many with hand-lettered signs reading "Closed due to evacuation." Motels were empty except for fire crews. Every passing car seemed to be either law enforcement or bore a number painted in white on its windshield indicating the driver is a fire crew member. Fire Chief Ben Owens said everybody who wanted to leave town is gone. As for the others, "Maybe today when we're out there, we'll ask those people for their next of kin."

The two fires, the "Rodeo" fire and the "Chediski" fire, did not merge Saturday night as earlier reported, fire officials said Sunday morning, and remain about two miles apart. The Rodeo blaze is now estimated at 200,000 acres, they said, while the Chediski fire has consumed some 93,000 acres. There's no containment in sight.

Operations chief Roy Hall said, "We're going to try to hold in the southern part of Hop Canyon. I have no confidence we can hold it in the northern part of the canyon. Once it gets into town, its magnitude is increased by an order of 10."

Read more here...

[greyfoxx39]

I am in Farmington, NM, on pins and needles, waiting for word on whether my home in Show Low is still standing! I am unable to get much information on national TV, and have no Phoenix TV available, so I am depending on you good folks in AZ to keep this thread going with the latest news, and to keep the prayers going too.

Does anyone have a phone number for an up-to-date report? Sure would appreciate it if you can get me one!

[Semper911]

And a summary from the same source...

Arizona's wildfires at a glance

The Arizona Republic June 23, 2002 09:20:00

The latest toll of the fires:

• Nearly 300,000 acres have burned.
• Conflicting reports about whether the "Rodeo" and the "Chediski" fires have merged.
• Structures burning in Heber and Overgaard.
• At least 115 structures have burned, more than 1,000 saved.
• Fire expected to hit Show Low Sunday or Monday.
• The towns of Show Low, with 7,700 residents, and Pinetop-Lakeside, with 3,500 residents, were ordered to evacuate early Saturday evening.
• The number of people evacuated estimated at 23,000.
• The fires were 0 percent contained.

[S.O.S121.500]

"Perhaps the signal fire was contained (by clearing brush in the area) and the helicopter spread it during the rescue?"

Lacking any first person account, it must remain conjecture......BUT, the makeshift LZ was not thought out and should not have been utilized not KNOWING whether or not the signal fire was or could be extinguished.

The helo/news crew are equally stupid/responsible as the hiker. IMNTBHO.

[dittomom]

NBC affiliate was telling people to call 1-877-GET-INFO ... they were touting it as a general purpose number that you can call about anything and they will be able to refer you to the right place. Hope that helps.

Latest word is that the fires will make it into Show Low this afternoon. Hope your home will be spared.

[dittomom]

Paxson just said that the firebreak *Hop Canyon) they were working on yesterday was a big help and should enable them to save many homes in Show Low. They are going to work on the other end of the firebreak today.

[dittomom]

The press conference just ended. There will be another one at 10PM.

[Angelique]

This is so sad. 20 homes lost, and now Jim Paxon saying it's going to Show Low. It sounds as though it is going to get worse.

[Travis McGee]

BIG fire. Thanks a lot, enviro nuts.

[Travis McGee]

Stream of consciousness can be an interesting writing technique if it is done well and makes a coherent point.

Yours is not, and does not.

[Jim Noble]

Prayers for you all from NH. My oldest just graduated from U of A and is now back home, we've been through Show Low and the rim towns many times on the way from Tucson to I-40, and have met many wonderful folks there.

Best of luck to all AZ freepers.

[dittomom]

Just saw the radar showing the smoke plumes (Channel 3 weather report). Winds are turning and going from west to east - that's bad news for Show Low...also, dew points and humidity are dropping, winds picking up...

Keep praying everyone - this fire is here for a long time.

[Brad’s Gramma]

How's about we start up a 24/7 prayer chain for rain???

[Lael]

The fire is pressing North and East driven by SW winds. I was amazed how much stronger they are as one approaches the fire.

What you folks are experiencing is technically known as a Sweep Conflagration, a phenomenon last seen during the Gen. Curtis LeMay's Great Night Fire Raid on Tokyo in early 1945. It happens when a large base fire breaks out in a situation where there is an already existing strong wind.

It is VERY different from a Firestorm where the winds are generated by the thermal upthrust and flow inward toward the center of the fire. Thus, Hamburg, and even Dresden, were self limiting phenomena. By contrast, the only thing able to stop the Great Tokyo fire was the sea itself. The rivers BOILED in the path of the fire.

The only reason I have gone into this at length is that in a Sweep Conflagration, emphasis MUST be placed on saturating structures with Retardants, as opposed to cutting firebreaks. Red hot winds themselves are capable of starting additional fires even in the absence of sparks and cinders!!

By the way, there have been offers of families in the Phoenix area to double and triple up to house the folks burned out by this horror. And yes, our prayers are with you!!

[Severa]

I have friends in eastern CO and they're sitting on the edge of their seats to see if their fires are heading over that way.

What I'd like to know from the AZ Freepers is this: It's been widely reported that the CO fires were started by that dumbass Forest Service bitch that needs to be flung right square in the middle of what she created, but have the officials been able to figure out what caused the AZ fires??

[mewzilla]

Supposedly one of the AZ fires was caused by a lost camper/hiker trying to draw attention by lighting a signal fire. Don't know about the other.

I will tell you this, though. We just got back from a visit to NM, with a stop in AZ. And I can't tell you the number of idiots we saw throwing ciggy butts out the windows of their vehicles. Those started at least a couple of brush fires while we were out there. You'd think folks would use their noggins. Sigh...