Juniper Fire closure-Sierra Ancha

[PrestonSands]

2016-06-14 perimeter http://hikearizona.com/map.php?GPS=32889

Not sure if anyone else has posted something on the Juniper Fire, but...
All of the southeastern Sierra Ancha is closed due to this being a "managed" wildfire.

Source: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOC ... 502611.pdf

Closure map

UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE TONTO NATIONAL FOREST PLEASANT VALLEY RANGER DISTRICT
JUNIPER FIRE PUBLIC SAFETY CLOSURE ORDER PROHIBITIONS
Pursuant to 16 USC 551 and 36 CFR 261.50 (a) and (b), the following acts are prohibited on the areas, roads, and trails described in this order, and depicted on the attached map hereby incorporated as Exhibit A (the “closure area”), all within the Pleasant Valley and Tonto Basin Ranger Districts of the Tonto National Forest, Arizona:
1. Going into or being upon the area described in the Order. 36 CFR 261.53 (e)
2. Being on the trail. 36 CFR 261.55 (a)
3. Being on a road. 36 CFR 261.54 (e)
EXEMPTIONS
Pursuant to 36 CFR 261.50 (e), the following persons are exempt from this order:
1. Persons with a US Forest Service permit specifically authorizing the otherwise prohibited act or omission.
2. Any Federal, State, or local officer, or member of any organized rescue or fire fighting force in the performance of an official duty.
3. Persons engaged in a business, trade, or occupation in the area, who are authorized to be in the restricted area by the US Forest Service, the State of Arizona, or the County of Gila, its employees, agents, contractors and subcontractors.
AREA DESCRIBED
All National Forest System Lands, roads, and trails to the east of State Highway 288 and to the west of Forest Road 203 (commonly referred to as the Cherry Creek Road) contained with the boundary lines as depicted on the attached map and hereby incorporated in this order. State Highway 288 and Cherry Creek Road will remain open for the duration of this order.
PURPOSE
To provide for the public’s health and safety during management activities associated with the Juniper Fire.
IMPLEMENTATION
1. USFS Law Enforcement Officers will assist in implementation of the Order and serve as liaisons with Gila County and Arizona Game and Fish.
2. This Order will be effected by appropriate signs and closure notices as required by 36 CFR 261.50. This order is effective May 23, 2016 until June 30, 2016 unless terminated sooner.
3. Violations of these prohibitions is punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organizations, imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or both. [16 USC 551, 18 USC 3571(b) (6), 18 USC 3581(b) (7)].
Dated this 23rd day of May 2016, at Phoenix, Arizona
/s/ Neil Bosworth
Neil Bosworth
Forest Supervisor Tonto National Forest

[Dschur]

Juniper Fire Revised Closure (expanded)
As of noon on Tuesday, May 31, the closure around the Juniper Fire planning area will be expanded to include all National Forest System lands, roads, and trails up to 1/2 mile west of State Highway 288 between Circle Ranch Trailhead (milepost 286.2) and milepost 279.8.

The original Juniper Fire closure remains in effect and includes all National Forest System Lands east of State Highway 288 from the intersection with Forest Road 203 at Broad Tree Saddle to the intersection with Forest Road 203 to the south, and all National Forest System lands, roads, and trails west of Forest Road 203 back to the intersection with State Highway 288.

State Route 288 is subject to delays of several hours during the day, and nighttime closures between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. The closures will be from mile post 285 to 291. Pilot vehicles will be escorting traffic during the day. Visibility may be limited due to smoke. Drivers along the road should take extra care and drive slowly as there may be a great deal of fire traffic.

[Grasshopper]

Here is the official Juniper Fire "InciWeb" link: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4745/ for ongoing updates.

[rcorfman]

Hope it turns out better than the "managed" Warm Fire did.

[chumley]

Hope it turns out better than the "managed" Warm Fire did.

Or the Oak Fire in the Galiuros. So far I haven't seen anything about aerial ignition (fuel-filled spheres which ignite upon impact with the ground, dropped from a helicopter), but with the forecast for next weekend calling for crazy heat, this has a real chance of getting away from them. Let's hope not.

[rwstorm]

@chumley
Did you see this?
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/4745/30808/

[chumley]

@rwstorm
No, I hadn't read the detail yet. :roll:

Let's hope it turns out better than Oak. Unfortunately, I'm starting to come around to the side that believes that fire is money in the bank.

[rwstorm]

@chumley
I think you are onto something of course. Plus, I think it is a slick new ploy to be able to close areas of the forest for extended periods without incurring as much public wrath as with whole forest closures. That said, something must be done to create healthier forests, after so long a period of wrong-headed management. So, I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt, unless of course things get way out of hand or destroys something I like (he said selfishly ;) ).

[JasonCleghorn]

I am on the Natural Resources Committee for Arizona Forward and fire suppression and eliminating fire borrowing are topics we have chosen to focus on.

[Nighthiker]

This Tanker has been flying out of the Payson Airport for operations at the Juniper fire.

[Sredfield]

I think the FS is so anxious to get lands burned in a somewhat mild, creeping-along-the-floor kind of fire, like the ones burning now, that they do all they can to facilitate it. The huge crown fires that suck up budgets and resources do not seem to happen in recently burned areas. I'll bet the metric being tracked is the acres burned like these are burning.

[PrestonSands]

The Juniper Fire appeared to be burning (spotting?) lightly on the south side of Aztec Peak and near the Carr Trailhead (upper end of Parker Creek Trail) when I was watching it from the Pinals this afternoon. These areas burned in the Coon Creek Fire in 2000.

Low quality iPhone zoom shot of Aztec from Pinals-Mon 4pm

[Jim]

Well, at least I have an excuse for not going to Aztec Peak or anywhere else n the Sierra Ancha, for a little while longer.

[dude]

A cell phone pic from 40 miles does not look too bad, Really?

Just ignore the last 30 years of Forest service (FS) atrocities orchestrated by these sociopaths. I have been to the scene twice and daily conversations with “share holders”. Land owners not appreciative of no choice remodeling are told what mite happen if they aren’t pleased.. Even told they can be arrested under the terrorist act.

The FS Call this a “Wildfire” and claim funding under the Terrorist act as “Hazard Mitigation”. See Hazard Mitigation Grant Program – (HMGP), But they also get BAER Funding (Burned Area Emergency Response) and Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) because its a “Wildfire”! They can re tap these sources again and again for anything they contrive a relation to this fire for at least a decade!

The FS Says this “Lightning strike” “Wildfire” happened 5/17/16 around noon.. But was not noticed for 3 days.. I personally know of at least 6 times that Hot shots have arrived at average remote camp fires within 2 hrs. of being lit from satellite infrared alerts within this district. Also the “ignition” point is claimed about 2 miles from one and 6 from another fire tower..

First report is dated the 22nd yet released the 23rd. Cited as “3 acres” after 5 days and 138 personnel on site. Truly Amazing! Amassing 138 people so fast to a 3 acre “wildfire” they could not see and before they could even write the initial report that took another day to even release..

By the 29th their perimeter map clearly showed the contrived “wildfire” was at least 99% created by the FS if not all? Spoiler alert! yesterdays incident report shows perimeter miles short of what they burnt days ago.. (Wonder if they will get royalties from the Saturday night live skit too?)

They closed up wind 288 to limit observation of the destructive burn in the major canyons. Because again they continually light the bottom for maximum canopy removal on up. While reporting fire is “creeping” down slopes. Pictures shone by owners from Monday show full Ponderosa pines engulfed in flames.

Every hour the forest gets drier and each day it gets hotter. Plus it's significantly dryer the farther you go south from Aztec peak. So in the driest and hottest season the FS escalates their ignition on the ground and from the skies, (5 plus% of the ping-pong ball drops ignites in the tree tops). “for a Healthier forest ” so like in tree heaven, with the animals too??

This is Another fire manufactured to fraudulently leveraged to extort the maximum dollars. We are paying to have our Ponderosa forest canopy’s eradicated. Yet this forum is pacifying.. Is this site controlled by the forest Service?

If you mite like your land with trees, wildlife, or like air, your money, kids, mite develop a conscious or don't want a hotter planet this is an appropriate time to act like it. Considerations, screaming, crying, letters and calls to everyone, 300mm lenses, record fire chatter, drone video, document them in the act of planning, propagating, and creating “Wildfires” and or their actual short and long term motivations and intentions.

Gladly accepting anything potentially useful, and respectful of discretion.

[dude]

Thursday evening a little after7:00 a wall of fire and smoke erupted all the way across the top of the mountain as seen from Globe (The south). Just minutes before there was no visible fire and much much less smoke. The abrupt eruption across miles late in the day leaves no doubt it was carpet bombed.

The question is what was used to so quickly engulf so much if not all the remaining canopy left along the top edges of the mt. after the tanner and coon fires and the fairly young new growth? Circumstances indicate an accelerant must have been used.

The wall of fire and smoke covered the entire length of the mountains high ground. Seemed to run from Armer mt to Moody point. There was a brighter area that looked closer, possibly Zimmerman Point area. As Zimmerman and up towards Grantham canopy was still intact.

6/1/17 acres 6,620 (15th day of the fire), 6/2/16 acres 12,682 “ Fire managers are quite pleased with the fire behavior and the accomplishments of the crews on the Juniper Fire to date.” Pleased to have doubled the fire from the 15th to the 16th day of the fire.

Still do not show they burnt upper rose creek from 288 up calf mt Sunday 4 days ago as of 6/2/16 report. Photo documented the burning of full green spaced Ponderosa pines there.

Why is any one tolerant of any part of this?

[chumley]

Why is any one tolerant of any part of this?

Unfortunately, at this point, there are very few facts available. Rumor and speculation are great for internet forums but until the area is open to the public and we can see the result of the fire, it's difficult to pin them down. The cynic in me thinks that's part of their plan.

If it's true that there are crown fires going on there right now, I would think that's inexcusable. Then again, I'm not a fire planner. Perhaps there's some science or logic behind burning crowns? I'd love to learn about that if so.

As for acreages and perimeters, I put very little faith in what is reported on inciweb or geomac. My experience is that fire managers aren't very good at communicating accurate information to the public until a fire is huge and threatening expensive homes. The information that is currently available is suspect (imo) and the timelines for which data has been reported on past Arizona fires has been inconsistent or erroneous. (Thermal mapping changes previously reported fire size, and doesn't always happen right away.)

I appreciate your skepticism and share some of it myself. I think they're flirting with disaster right now. But fire management isn't my area of expertise, and I'll defer to folks who are educated and trained in this field. I don't pretend to know more than they do, but I sure do hope they know what they're doing!

[dude]

Unfortunately, at this point, there are very few facts available.

Facts:

The “Juniper Fire” is sadly just a small part of the millions of acres the FS will intentional initiate, facilitate, propagate, and perpetuate labeling, blaming and billing as “wildfires” every year.

FS claimed that after 5 days the fire involved “3 acres”.Claimed a lighting strike lit a fire at the head of cold water canyon. A rocky canyon that has a several hundred foot head wall to the west, sparse consumable north and south and brush down drainage to the east as perimeter maps did not shown this advancement, if there was a fire there it most likely went out days ago.

FS amassed an army to said “3 acres” fire. Informed locals of their intent to burn 80,000 -120,000 acres.
Legal Definition of "Wildfire" means an unplanned, unwanted wildland fire, including unauthorized human-caused fires, escaped wildland fire use events, escaped prescribed fire projects, and all other wildland fires where the objective is to extinguish the fire.

FS has ignited well over 99% of what has burned, and their intent/plan to do so, labeling it as a “wildfire” is a lie and so fraud. “Fraud is commonly understood as dishonesty calculated for advantage” “Common law fraud is the intentional misrepresentation of material facts presented to and relied upon by another party to his detriment.”

FS Bribed, intimidated, and threaten locals to accept their intent. United States, the common law “arson occurs by the burning of any real property without consent or with unlawful intent.][11]” “the element of "dwelling" is no longer required”

“Consent” from in-holders in many cases is obtained illegally and the event is fraudulently labeled for money. As for public land we were not asked if we would like fires perpetuated under the most expensive and damaging conditions. If we were asked it would be a resounding no!

Common law arson, "malicious" refers action creating a great risk of a burning.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program defines arson as any willful or malicious burning or attempting to burn, with or without intent to defraud,

Fact is a crown fire was seen by much of globe last night that presented as a solid front over miles. It was perpetrated by nothing other than actions of the forest service, with intent to profit.

[Tough_Boots]

@dude

I would be curious to see some links on these big accusations.

[rwstorm]

The winds aloft trajectory has pushed a lot of the smoke from this fire between Phoenix and Tucson. Made for a rather dramatic sunset this evening here in Tucson.

[rwstorm]

Note temperature spike yesterday afternoon from Snotel station near Peterson Ranch.
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/getobe ... aw=0&dbn=m