Moderator: HAZ - Moderators
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I was up in this area over the Weekend and it is tinder box dry up there!
While the fire is obviously devastating and destructive, I think it's too early for any declarations on specific places being "gone". I remember during the Wallow Fire, it was ripping through Big Lake and someone commented to me that Big Lake will probably look like a "moonscape", and yet the next summer, Arizona Highways ran a cover photo of Big Lake post-fire and it had come out of the fire without being completely annihilated and is still a gorgeous place, although there are still obvious effects from the fire. Obviously, a great deal of the White Mountain forests did get annihilated, but we really didn't know what the extent was at any specific place until after the fire. Same thing with Lockett Meadow during the Schultz Fire in 2010. I remember some were expressing rock-bottom sorrow of "losing" Lockett Meadow as the fire burned into that area, and yet despite some burn scars on the high south ridge and of course the entire surface area of Sugarloaf getting torched, you can visit Lockett Meadow this very day and its beauty remains largely intact. I'm sure West Fork along with much of the rest of Upper Oak Creek Canyon will see some ugly damage, but I think there is far too much worse-case scenario speculation going on right now. Reading my facebook newsfeed, I get the impression that everyone is expecting A damage zone akin to a nuclear weapon being detonated with ground zero being Call O' the Canyon Picnic Area. Of all the speculation I have read, I favor the post made last night on the Arizona Highways blog that shares the thoughts of local photographer and great guy Derek von Briesen. Among his thoughts, he mentions the likelyhood that the canyon walls are bearing a bigger brunt than the riparian zones, which is the way I have being leaning myself. The entire Canyon is special, but the riparian areas are what everyone really holds dear, and they don't necessarily burn the same as the chaparral or the evergreen forests. Again, we will find out later, but we don't really know much yet. It is gonna be bad, but let's keep it in perspective folks, for all of our mental health.Outdoor Lover wrote:but people that are there are reporting in that it's gone now...It's hearsay I suppose
Thanks Jake.hippiepunkpirate wrote:let's keep it in perspective folks,
. . .It’s hard to tell from the maps, but it looks like maybe the first few crossings may have survived intact. But there’s no real way to know until there are actual boots on the ground.
And it could be weeks, months or even years before those boots are public. Obviously this is only informed supposition on my part, but given that certain badly burned trails from the 2006 Brins Fire in Sedona stayed closed for more than three years, this fire of equal magnitude could bring similar closures.
http://www.abc15.com/news/region-northe ... -north-endhttp://www.abc15.com/news/region-northe ... -5-percentOn Thursday night, officials said the fire is expected to grow [to] between 7,500-8,000 acres by Friday. The official estimated the fire to be 5% contained, however an official number is expected to be released tomorrow.
Officials said if they pull off their game plan, and the fire doesn't push them, the fire could potentially be contained in 7-10 days.
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