Posted on 06/23/2002 2:46:41 PM PDT by uglybiker
Edited on 05/07/2004 5:20:57 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
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 Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.
Noting the shifting winds and the intensity of the inferno, operations section chief Buck Wickham cautioned, "That's a projection, and this fire has done nothing that we've projected yet."
(Excerpt) Read more at azcentral.com ...
STILL ZERO PERCENT CONTAINED
Chediski Fire - 70 homes lost, 500 saved
Rodeo Fire - 115 homes lost, 1000 saved
Fire never entered Show Low proper today. Favorable conditions slowed the fire - temp only got to 87 (yesterday it was 92) and winds were calmer. The fire went through Linden and another home was lost in the Timberland Acres.
TWO FIRES JOINED at about 2:30PM in two separate areas. They will have revised maps and acreages in the morning after the infrared reports are in.
Full fire crews will be out working tonight.
Firefighters worked very hard in the Hop Canyon area. The fire did break through into Cottonwood Canyon and may threaten Lakeside later but there is still some chance it can be stopped. Alot of retardant has been laid down there and chances are 70/30 that they will be successful. If they win that battle, this will stop the fire from moving into Show Low from the south.
NUMBER ONE FIRE priority in the nation. There are 4 Type 1 teams working now.
FAA has granted total flight restrictions - this hasn't been done since the Yellowstone fire. Media helicopters will have to fly at 12,000 feet to stay out of the way of fire crews.
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture will be visiting tomorrow and participating in the 11AM briefing.
Very little change coming in the weather.
300,000 acres is a little less than 500 square miles (there are 640 acres to a square-mile section.) That's a piece of land roughly 20 miles wide by 24 miles long.
In comparative terms, it is almost half the size of the state of Rhode Island.
There is plenty of forest left in Arizona, but this is a pretty big fire. The biggest one I remember before this was about 30 or 40 thousand acres, if I recall right.
-ccm
This is so heart-wrenching to listen to the people as they don't know if they have a house left or to know everything is gone.
There is no change as of this morning. I heard more homes went down last nite, but there are so many conflicting stories. My heart just aches for those displaced families.
....kill every animal, two legged and otherwise? Yup, helluva' idea.
Some gene pools need more chlorine.
I'm listening to talk radio this morning. All those TV images yesterday resulted in some nasty dreams last night...I can't even begin to imagine what it is like for those who are waiting this out, not knowing what has happened to their home.
You make a good point. Remember how they put out the Kuwaiti oil field fires? They used explosives to snuff the flame. Would be worth a try!
Sorry to hear about your nite. There was one picture that really scared me, too. I was actually crying last nite after seeing all those displaced families. Did you see the shot of the Dad crying. It broke my heart.
They are saying the fire will spread to Show Low; not if, but when. There is going to be am update at 9:30.
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