Photo of the fire's plume late Wednesday afternoon taken from a Forest Service road north of the fire (Photo: Mike Gillespie/Summit Fire Dept)
FRIDAY’S LATEST UPDATES
WILLIAMS (NAZ Today, 7:30 PM)– Afternoon breezes and dry conditions have allowed the Eagle Rock Fire to more than triple in size this afternoon.
Crews made progress Thursday battling the 3,415-acre Eagle Rock Fire near Spring Valley, despite experiencing less-than-ideal firefighting conditions. Breezes continued into the evening hours, but crews were still able to gain 30 percent containment on the fire.
Overnight burnout operations and better aerial mapping have also contributed to the latest size estimate. Firefighters experienced some high winds Thursday, although they were much less than 55 mph gusts seen on Wednesday. Thursday’s winds averaged in the 10-20 mph range, with gusts to 25 mph. Warm temperatures and low humidity (11%) helped the fire burn actively throughout the day.
A firefighting helicopter dips its "Bambi Bucket" into a lake (Photo: Chad Black/APSN.us)
John Philbin’s Northern Arizona Type-2 Incident Management Team took over control of the fire this morning at 6 am. By nightfall, the number of firefighters on scene increased from 250 to 316. Resources include two air tankers, three helicopters, four hotshot crews, a 20-person hand crew, 16 fire engines, and several pieces of heavy equipment.
Helicopters and air tankers were able to fight the fire because winds were lighter Thursday. The high winds Wednesday grounded all air tanker efforts.
The cause of the fire is still unknown at this time. The Kaibab National Forest lists the fire’s growth potential at high. Fire crews will conduct additional burnout operations overnight to continue to slow the progress of the fire by control burning some of the fuels ahead of the main fire. Crews will also reinforce the established containment lines.
Stay with NAZToday.com for the latest information as it happens.
For Wednesday’s fire activity recap, click here.
Thick smoke from the Eagle Rock Fire rises above the pine trees near Spring Valley (Photo: Chad Black/APSN.us)
This looks bad!
This is really horrible. Sad n devastating!