Wallow Fire – Waiting For The Winds
The fire area went under a Red Flag at 1PM MDT, that continues until 8PM for high temperatures, low humidity, and gusty winds. The eastern edge of the fire is at the border with New Mexico which is preparing for the worst.
Another burst of activity, and the Wallow Fire will surpass the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski Complex which burned 468,500 acres [732 miles² 1896 km²] and is currently ranked as the worst fire in Arizona history.
Information from the current Wallow Fire InciWeb Page
- Date Started: 5/29/2011
- Location: Apache, Navajo, Graham, and Greenlee Counties, Arizona
- Size: 430,171 acres [672 miles² 1741 km²] based on infrared data
- Cause: Human – under investigation
- Number of Personnel: Approximately 3,208 including 20 hotshot crews and 45 hand crews
- Equipment: 17 dozers, 221 engines, 66 watertenders
- Aircraft: 14 helicopters, DC-10
- Percent Contained: 5%
- Injuries to Date: 6
- Residences: 2,714 threatened; 29 destroyed; 5 damaged
- Commercial Property: 473 threatened; 4 destroyed
- Outbuildings: 34 destroyed; 1 damaged
- Other: 1 truck destroyed
- Incident Commander: Jim Loach, Area Command Team 3
The fire is 5% contained, with containment lines established on the northeast side of the fire. Improved weather conditions allowed for successful burnout operations along the 273 road near Greer, in Water Canyon south of Eager, and northeast of Alpine. Today’s activities include structure protection, continued burnout and mop-up operations to strengthen containment lines, and patrol for spot fires. Burnout operations will continue into New Mexico east of Luna along Highway 220. Burnout operations may be affected by a Red Flag warning that has been issued for today from 1 pm to 8 pm for gusty south-southwest winds 15-25 mph, low relative humidity, and unstable air mass over the fire.
[For the latest information click on the Fire symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Fires” for all of the posts related to wildfires on this site.]
2 comments
“Fire Manager: Jim Loach, Area Command Team 3”
There is some irony in living in an age in which even disasters have managers. Somehow I have a feeling that the demand for those managers is about to increase without limit.
The need may be on the increase, but the number is probably decreasing as they become fed up with being bad-mouthed by politicians as lazy government workers, and they see their rights and benefits eroded year after year. You don’t keep good people when you treat them like crap.
Jack would know for sure, but I think they used to called incident commanders, and known as “fire bosses”. McNamara started the move to calling everyone “manager”, even in the military, and the emphasis was put on “management”, rather than leadership.
Update: I decided to change it to my first choice of title, Incident Commander, because Fire Manager sounds like he’s telling the fire what to do, or giving it “goals”.