# We're on fire



## youngdon

Just an update for those of you who don't get our news, we have two large wildfires burning in the state, the first one the "wallow" fire is at 192,000 acres and 0% contained winds today are expected to be sustained at 15-20mph with gusts to 40mph. Several thousand people have been evacuated, as of this AM only four structures have burned, but many others are in areas that are covered with a thick layer of smoke. This fire is only one week old and is near the AZ towns of Alpine and Springerville.

The second fire the "horseshoe 2" fire is a month old and has burned just over 100,000 acres but is 55% contained. Winds may cause the fire to jump containment lines at any time though.

We also have a few smaller fires burning one at 48,000 in southern AZ.


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## Mattuk

That is very worrying news, Don I trust none are effecting you or family? Is this a normal year or worse than others?


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## youngdon

No they are not effecting us. Our cabin is several hundred miles from the fires, but to be honest any little spark in the dried grasses could change that. This year is drier than normal, so far, we had quite a bit of snow in the northern half of the state and then nothing, so the wet winter germinated all the seed and it grew and is now dried out. I'm fairly sure that this fire will reach double it's present size before they get a handle on it.


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## Mattuk

It's still a worry isn't it. The size of the fire's I just can't quite get into my head.


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## youngdon

Absolutely it is still a worry, the wallow fire could easily grow by 30-50% in the next few days depending on winds and fire behavior. With winds gusting to 40mph embers can be blown a few miles ahead of the fire. When they get this big they develop their own weather as they suck in air and build an ash cloud that eventually collapses sometimes blowing the fire in all directions at increadible speeds. 200,000 acres =312.5 sq miles =808sq Kilometers By comparison our Rodeo-Chediski fire in 2002 burned 468,000 acres or 1,896 sq Kilometers. We now have well over 1000 firefighters on the ground as well as several air tankers dropping retardant.


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## Mattuk

468,000 acres is just frightening when you think how small the uk is.


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## hassell

Ya I've been following it YD, and the Northern States are flooding, crazy weather everywhere.


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## Ruger

I hope they get them under control YD. I have alot of respect for the firefighters, that has got to be alot of hard brutal work. I live in the southwest corner of Colorado and most of the time the smoke from those fires is so thick I cannot see the mountains. Prayers and best of luck to all those n AZ.


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## youngdon

Yeah I saw the smoke patterns on the TV earlier tonight and you are inthe thick of it for sure. Hopefully they'll get them out soon. Then the people have to worry about floods when it rains, and all the fish that will choke on the ash washed into their lakes and streams. The fire itself is devastating enough then to have the lakes die off and the game all gone hurts the area for years tourist wise.


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## SWAMPBUCK10PT

*WOW!!!!!!!!! Thats Huge---------Hoping the best for AZ---and pray for rain---------sb*


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## youngdon

The wallow fire is now 250,000 acres and counting. The winds have died down a bit so hopefully they can make some headway on it.


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## SWAMPBUCK10PT

*Don---a friend from Joseph City Az is fighting that fire--His name is Brian Brooks---He's a coyote caller and PD shooter ---He took me out last winter at his place and I shot my first PD----I pray for his safety----------sb*


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## youngdon

I remember you talking about him Skip. I'll throw a prayer his way too. I stand corrected on the acreage count it has now burned 389,000 acres and winds tomorrow are expected to contanin gusts to 35. There are over 3000 firefighters from all over the country here now. They'll have their hands full as the fire approaches Eager and Springerville. They've drawn a line to protect the town but with winds you never know. Many people have evacuated alot of them mandatory, but others have refused to leave choosing to try to protect their homes. I can understand their plight, but houses can be rebuilt. Unfortunately many people in the area are not well off financially and posessions seem to mean more to those who don't have the means to replace them.


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## On a call

Is this an every year occurance ?


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## ReidRH

My thoughts and Prayers are with Yall man!


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## Ruger

Skies have cleared around here the winds, must have shifted. Prayers and thoughts still with everybody in AZ, fire is such a devestating thing.


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## youngdon

Last count 607 square miles have burned, that's 389,000 acres and there is still no containment. The winds should calm a bit for the next two days and then flare up again. They have ordered the evacuation of Springerville and Eager. I believe the fire has jumped the containment lines they were building around the towns. Hopefully they can slow it enough to save those towns. The town of Greer has also been evacuated (I'm listening to the news replay as I'm typing, Sorry) 3500 firefighters so far. Thought to be started by an abandoned campfire, way to go people. No one has died and only 10 structures have been lost.


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## youngdon

On a call said:


> Is this an every year occurance ?


We normally have a fire or two or more every year but not of this magnitude. Our forests have not been managed at all. They are so thick with small trees and undergrowth that do nothing but give a fire a ladder to the tree tops, thus creating a crown fire which moves very fast especially with gusts to 40MPH. all the underbrush burns also. Yet one more thing our Federal Government has failed to manage properly. Tomorrow a 747 tanker is supposed to be on scene it supposedly can drop retardent in 1 mile strips. Our rainfall has been below average for about ten of the past eleven years. and some of the rain we have had comes all at once so it just runs off or wets things enough to start new growth that then dries out and acts as tinder. Once the fire hits the pine boughs it's usually gonna grow fast. I know you've seen a xmas tree burn!!

The horseshoe2 fire is now over 106,000 acres. Another fire in southern AZ has grown to 86.000 and there are at least three others burning.


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## youngdon

Here's a site that provides updates on the area burned every few hours.

http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2262/


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## knapper

Due to the size of Alaska we have fires that will reach up to 3-5 million acres. Normally we only have 2.5 million acres will burn in the state for a total.


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## On a call

that is a huge area !!

We have a field catch on fire and you would think a forest went up in flames.

Don I hope that it gets contained soon !


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## Antlerz22

Hope the winds die down completely for a few days then maybe they can get a good firebreak going and start some backfires or something. Ive fought fires in my younger days and they arent by no means easy. The heat from the fire with the wind blowing it towards you if it shifts is VERY scary, no to mention extreme chance of heat exhaustion. I cant even imagine one of that size. Ours were quite small compared but were tenacious--which means this is that hundreds of times over. Like you said Don they generate their own winds and that makes them unpredictable as well.


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## youngdon

1% containment so far this AM, however the entire town of Greer is still under a thick blanket of smoke so no one knows if it is still there.


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## Mattuk

Bloody hell as in the whole town Don?


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## youngdon

We don't know. The smoke is to thick to see and the ground is to dangerous to drive in and see. I'm sure that we'll hear something soon.


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## Mattuk

My word, that's terrible, my thoughts are with those poor people. Don I trust its still far away from you?


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## youngdon

Yeah it's a long way from us here in the Phoenix area.


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## youngdon

The latest news from Greer is good, only five homes appear to have been burned. The town is still in some danger however the winds have calmed and the firefighters are hitting the area hard.


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## Mattuk

Well that is some good news but not for the people who have lost their homes.


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## youngdon

They have upped the lost structure count in Greer to 22 homes and 24 out buildings. 5 others were damaged although I don't know how badly. 4000 homes are still in danger from this one fire.


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## Mattuk

What about the other fires Don are they still growing?


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## youngdon

Yes they are. The horseshoe 2 is at 126,000 acres now. A couple of the fires in southern AZ have merged and are still growing at 68,000. There is a series of fires burning down there, I think they suspect that illegals set them to either keep warm at night or to throw off Border Patrol or Bandits.


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## Mattuk

Illegals from Mexico?


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## youngdon

Yes. When you venture down that way there are warning signs that the areas may not be safe as they are known to be used for illegal purposes.


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## Mattuk

Really! It's that bad.


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## youngdon

This is one of the signs.


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## Mattuk

I knew it wasn't very good but didn't think it was that bad. Have you ever had problems Don?


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## youngdon

I have never been confronted, I have seen several groups walking through the desert while I was hunting.


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## youngdon

The latest news report says 409,000 acres burned.


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## Mattuk

It's another thing to worry about!


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## youngdon

I don't put in for hunts in those areas anymore, just to be safe.


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## Mattuk

Yeah I bet Don its not worth it, better to be safe than sorry!


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## Mattuk

This is the first thing I've seen on the fires over here.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/fire-rages-arizona-thousands-evacuate-000952970.html


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## youngdon

That doesn't surprise me at all Matt. anada has had some major fires already this year and I only hear of them from fellow hunters. A few weeks ago the town of Slave Lake, Alberta Canada lost 40% of the town according to one source.


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## youngdon

This is how they go after them up there. Along with people on the ground of course, but some areas are just to rugged to put people into.


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## Mattuk

Are they using them now Don?


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## youngdon

Those are the planes they use in Canada. They need a mile of open water to fill their holds. I'll try to put up a linl to what they use here.


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## youngdon

This is the DC-10

I heard we were getting the 747 http://westcoast911.com/wp/2009/07/...-dc-10-to-be-biggest-firefighting-air-tanker/

We use a lot of these also


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## Mattuk

Thanks for posting that Don I'll take a look.

I just heard a joke that the fire's weren't started by Mexican's but by Ryan Giggs burning all the copy's of tomorrow's papers!

Thats one for the Man Utd fan's out there.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-st...om-football-over-allegations-115875-23191383/


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## Mattuk

youngdon said:


> This is the DC-10
> 
> I heard we were getting the 747 http://westcoast911.com/wp/2009/07/...-dc-10-to-be-biggest-firefighting-air-tanker/
> 
> We use a lot of these also


20,000 Gallons out of the 747 my word thats a lot, Don do you know how many trips it can make in a day, it must take a while to refuel?


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## youngdon

The DC-10 made three trips Friday dumping slurry (fire retardant and water) base cost for the day, slurry and fuel extra is $57,000. Peanuts not included either.


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## Mattuk

It doesn't take long for the cost to mount up! How effective is it?


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## On a call

Thank you Don ! Barry did you notice that the area we hunted last fall is burning ?

I sure hope it does not continue ! Looks like about 25 sq miles.


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## youngdon

The three trips it made were Thursday not Friday. Friday it was grounded because the wind died and the smoke was hanging to low, the plane couldn't see the mountains or the firefighters on the ground (you can't dump water on them) and as you can imagine it needs a little space. It has three separate tanks so it can dump them all in a one mile long strip or make three separate drops. According to the report it can only work from 2 locations in the US luckily one of them is on the eastside of Phoenix.


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## Mattuk

That is very lucky that one of the locations is in Arizona, I guess it makes sense. Is there any change to the situation Don?


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## youngdon

Wind speeds were up today. I haven't watched the news today, yet.


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## Mattuk

We've had quite a few fire's over here but nothing on the scale of your's.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/5184582.stm this happened a few years ago, sadly another part of the reserve caught on fire this year. There have fires from Devon to Scotland but all put together would not make the size of your smallest one.


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## ReidRH

Just Stay Safe Don!! Hopefully Rain will come soon!


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## youngdon

Thanks Richard, but don't worry I am going nowhere near that area of the state.


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## showmeyote

There saying here on the news that It could take weeks to get this fire out! Only 5% has been contained. Praying for everyone's safety. smoke in eastern Arizona are nearly 20-40 times higher than the federal health standard.


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## youngdon

Yeah it normally takes quite a while for them to burn down espcially with winds. Even with winds of 10mph they were getting spot fires 1/4 mile out in front of the main fire body.


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## ReidRH

Wow I didnt realize that Alaska Had that Kind of fire problem! Learn Something Every Day! If MS had that kind of Fire Problem it would consume Every Peice of Public hunting Property in the State! Fire is An Evil Foe when it Rages out of control I Dont think our State could handle a huge fire like that! We had a Fire here just a couple years ago that may have covered 400 acres. One Man Got Killed Trying to Warn Neighbors on a 4 wheeler!


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## On a call

Wow that is truely sad Richard. Warning neighbors and got caught.

I remember once I set a 15 acre weed field ablaze once, on purpose. I had permission from the fire department. After it got going the wind picked up...I was beating and beating it. I got the job done but I was scared I never saw anything like that before and to be responceable for it got me thinking..not again.


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## youngdon

The wallow fire is now 480,000 acres and 18% contained. It is the largest on record for our state. Probable cause for the fire is a abandoned campfire.


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## Mattuk

All because some idiot couldn't take the time to put a campfire out. What about the others Don?


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## youngdon

We haven't had any lightning of any sort. The Pahjarita complex fire was originally a series of 7 fires, set they think by illegal aliens either trying to evade the Border Patrol or Mexican bandits. The horse shoe 2 fire was also human caused, it is now at 140,000 acres and 52% contained. All the smaller fires are also human caused, to my knowledge.


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## Mattuk

All this loss because of dumb people, mind blowing isn't it!


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## youngdon

The only bright spot in this fire is the small number of structures burnt. I believe the total is 39. In the Rodeo-Chediski fire there were over 400 homes burnt to the ground.


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## On a call

Now how does someone tell that a huge fire was started by an abandoned camp fire ?

I guess there are ways of tracing it back but still.

Man however does do stupid things.


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## youngdon

Point of origin should be fairly easy to determine early on. People might throw a little dirt and water on the pit but I've rarely seen anyone move the rocks used to surround it. 
The rodeo-chediski fire was two fires that merged in 2002, 469,000 acres one fire was started by a stupid motorist trying to signal a helicopter after her car broke down. The Rodeo half was started by a out of work firefighter hoping to be sent out on a fire.


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## Mattuk

youngdon said:


> The Rodeo half was started by a out of work firefighter hoping to be sent out on a fire.


In the words of a great man 'YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS'!?


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## youngdon

I am totally serious. The other half was started by a woman who was with her boss, when the car broke down she walked into the forest totry to get to the top of a hill for cell phone reception and got lost(LOL) so she set a signal fire(stupid) ...... OK you walked up hill from your car and a road.... you think you are lost ..... what do you do next??? ummmm .... hmmmm start a signal fire ?? I wonder if anyone thought to ask her if she tried walking DOWNHILL.


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## On a call

Oh my...what happens to people like that ? I sure hope they are not breeding stock !

Dumb dumb dumb and....dumber


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## youngdon

Here is the latest on the fires burning here: The wallow fire is now at 500,000 acres, nearly 800 square miles. It has moved into New Mexico and now threatens the town of Luna. Springerville and Eager residents have been allowed home if they have no breathing issues. 32 homes destroyed.

The Horse shoe 2 fire is now at 200,000 acres and 15% contained and has been burning since May 18th

The monument fire has doubled in size in the last day to 19,000 acres it has destroyed 40 homes.

Red flag warnings are in effect until Sunday with winds blowing 15-25 MPH gusting to 35.


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## Mattuk

Terrible! Hard to get your head round!


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## youngdon

The Wallow fire is still burning and is now at 537,000 acres 57% containment. The Monument fire is also still burning at 40,000+ acres and 63% containment.


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## On a call

That is huge ! I have been praying for all you guys !!!!


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## youngdon

One report i read said we would have fires burning until the rains came. The official start of monsoon season is june 15th, and there is no rain on the horizon.


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## Mattuk

I'm doing a rain dance over here for you Don.


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## youngdon

Thanks Matt. I'll have to check on the results but yesterday the G&F commissin was supposed to meet to discuss the big game hunts in the affected areas.


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