Bighorn Fire

[SpiderLegs]

Pulled out of my driveway and noticed the orange glow in the pre-dawn hour coming from Pusch Ridge. Then drove down the block and noticed the same glow coming from the Tortolita's.

The fire in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness is below Bighorn Peak and doesn't appear to be hitting Pusch Peak or the Cleaver yet. Luckily it's not windy this morning or we could have a huge mess on our hands.

Over in the Tortolita's as best as I can figure it looks like the fire is at the very end of the Wild Burro trail near where it intersects with the Ridgeline trail.

Last news report I saw was that the Pusch Ridge fire is being monitored and can't be accessed due to the terrain. Our local fire crews are all over in the Tortolita's working on it.

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2020-06-29 Changed Subject from Two Fires In NW Tucson to Bighorn Fire since the other was contained long ago and did not affect hiking much if any.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6741/

[Jim]

Yeah, I don't know why they feel a need to include it as a percentage, but they probably just assume that they know it is an estimate which can change. I did notice for a while the Bush had no "0%".

[SpiderLegs]

Don't know much about containment, but do know that my dogs came back into the house smelling like a campfire after running around the backyard for 10 minutes this morning. Something blew up overnight. Today is by far the worst smoke day since the fire started.

[SpiderLegs]

Looks like Sabino Canyon is next on the hit list. The FS wants to push the fire into the wetter, lower area of the canyon to try and stop that end of the fire. On the flip side, doing back burns along Samaniego Ridge to keep the fire away from Saddlebrooke, Oracle and San Manuel.

FS getting an early start, saw a couple of their helicopters flying low over my house at 4:30 AM this morning.

[azbackpackr]

@SpiderLegs
The maps I've been looking at on Inciweb show that Box Camp Trail from upper Sabino, and Palisades Trail, Bug Springs, Soldier Camp, and a few others on the SE side of the range are so far unaffected. Not many left that are unaffected, in other words.

[Jim]

Most importantly, Pusch Peak was unaffected!

[SpiderLegs]

Most importantly, Pusch Peak was unaffected!

Well, for selfish reasons this does make me happy. It's the closest vertical trail to my house. Plus it appears the bees have left, so I was looking forward to many more visits this summer.

[chumley]

This is an excellent fire story map for Bighorn:
https://nifc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSe ... b49cfd27f8

[RedRoxx44]

More evacuations due to fire Catalina hwy Redington area. Redington pass road closed at end of pavement.

[RedRoxx44]

Fire devastation pic or two--- YUK!
https://www.kold.com/2020/07/03/first-l ... re-damage/

[azbackpackr]

@RedRoxx44
Remember after the Aspen fire? Sabino Canyon had a debris flow as I recall. I think there will be a lot of flooding.

[RedRoxx44]

@azbackpackr
Oh my goodness, yes, I remember the CDO wash flowed black with ash and one of the washes, flowed so heavy with debris is came within a foot or two of a bridge the I-10 crossed. There was a brief consideration of shutting the interstate down, as I remember.

[RedRoxx44]

The initial BAER debris flow probability map for Bighorn. From my uneducated view the top of the mountain got cooked. https://landslides.usgs.gov/hazards/pos ... jectid=281

[nonot]

That's a better map than others I've been looking at, but in terms of being useful, I find these maps confusing, as all the danger is downhill of the predicted areas of mudslides. While it would be bad to be walking around on top of the slope as it gives way, it seems equally as dangerous to be in the flow path as it proceeds downhill. Maybe just another armchair quarterback thing, but if you are anywhere near a drainage, your danger level is not equal to the color shaded where you are at, but the worst color of any area that feeds the drainage above you.

[SpiderLegs]

I'm about a mile or so away from the CDO wash (and luckily live up the hill from it). Looks like I better not do any late afternoon beer runs when a monsoon is about to hit this year.

[azbackpackr]

@SpiderLegs
My brother lives right uphill from the wash, in assisted living, at "The Country Club of La Cholla," a nice euphemistic name for a wrinkle factory. (He's almost 81 and has Alzheimer's.)

[SpiderLegs]

@SpiderLegs
My brother lives right uphill from the wash, in assisted living, at "The Country Club of La Cholla," a nice euphemistic name for a wrinkle factory. (He's almost 81 and has Alzheimer's.)

Practically neighbors, within running distance of my house. I live up the big hill to the northwest of that facility.

[RedRoxx44]

IMHO a worthwhile article: https://www.tucsonlocalmedia.com/foothi ... 3318e.html

[jrousoshammond]

Saw tons of smoke today for the first time in quite a while. Looked like it was coming from Sabino Canyon.

[Mountain_Rat]

@jrousoshammond
Saw that too. Coming in from Sonoita, I sort of triangulated as I drove to the west side. I agree it's in Sabino, but I'm kind of thinking not down in the canyon, but maybe heading up and/or across the north slopes. There's really not much left to burn.

[LindaAnn]

Neat clip of some flooding yesterday from the Bighorn Fire:

https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/v ... l-oro-wash