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Sunflower Fire 2012 - Perimeter Map

Firefighter friend posted a video of a new fire that began this morning near Sunflower, south of Payson. They've got two air tankers on it already, so hopefully they get it under control today. With the warm weather coming next week, it will be tougher to fight. Appears to be kicking up quite a bit of smoke.

Besides my friend's video, the only "official" news I could find is here:
( dead link removed )

There are a couple of springs on the back side of Saddle Mountain, along with some awesome douglas fir trees just north of the Sunflower mine that are/soon-to-be destroyed. I bushwhacked that whole area last summer on an unemployment sabbatical. It was wild country back in there. Sad to see it go.

The forest service has access to daily satellite images/ homeland security data to determine where and when the fire started. Then they look for vehicles parked nearby, campsites, etc.

Fire investigators are impressively good at determining the origin of a fire and even the exact cause of ignition, and have been doing so for decades. Not that they won't use the resources available to them, but in most instances, it doesn't take modern technology to answer the questions. And while not yet public, I'm confident they already know how it started. Assuming* it was human-caused, they may not yet be certain of who started it, but I bet they have some good leads to follow.

*While it seems likely, I'll wait to pass judgement until the official word comes out.

Outlander wrote: I bushwhacked that whole area last summer on an unemployment sabbatical. It was wild country back in there. Sad to see it go.

I remember you doing that which I believe was also meant to be a GPSjoe search hike. I believe it was one of your first posted HAZ GPS Routes too. I remember thinking ..Who is this guy?.. Now I pretty much take your always more demanding back country outing for granted

Went up on the rim to hike yesterday (Tuesday, 5/15/2012). On the drive up in the morning the smoke from this fire was hugging the ground and was widespread clear to the top of the rim. The top of the rim was clear, however. As we got back to the edge of the rim on our return drive, it was evident that the intense heat from the fire coupled with the winds that came up during the day had formed the smoke plume into the shape of a mushroom-type cloud. I stopped to shoot a series of pictures from a small hill on the north side of Payson and then stitched them into a panorama which I included in a small picture set I posted under the "Cabin Loop" trail. The composite panorama can be found here
http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=259551
The Mazatzals do not need ANOTHER fire so I hope that it can be contained quickly. But it is growing rapidly - it was noticeably larger in the afternoon than it seemed to be in the morning.

The Inciweb maps shows it got the AZT thru McFarland Canyon, which is painfully discouraging. Also making its way up Sheep Mountain.

I've been thinking this and not really wanting to say it, but searching for GPSJoe will be easier on the SE slopes of Sheep Mtn now.

It looks to me as if it has made its way over Sheep Mtn and is now working down the north side. Peeley has so far been spared. But I expect it will burn up those slopes as well.

I have also thought of the search for Joe. I hope that the increased presence of firefighters traversing the terrain could result in a discovery, but I also fear that the fire might burn the most obvious clues that remain, or destroy a photo memory card that might provide some answers if found.

Sredfield wrote:searching for GPSJoe will be easier

yeah.. I think that has probably been on a lot of minds, with the direction the blaze is taking. bittersweet if it actually happens. it would be great to find Joe, but even better if the area he was trying to conquer retained its natural state in doing so.

Noticed this morning they had two cop cars and barricades at the Deer Creek Trailhead now.. as well as two sheriffs at the road down to the old hwy.. at the pass. Looked like the news crews have driven up the Ord Mt road saw a lot of vehicles up there with antennas on them...

the HAZ Sunflower Fire Progressive Perimeter Map updated about an hour ago and appears to have taken Sheep Mtn

that's seriously

Not much big fuel left now - except some on Little Saddle Mtn but that's in serious danger. It clobbered everything south that Willow missed.

@mazatzal

Yep, sure is sad. Quite surprised this happened in May. It really grew in the last 24 hours - guess that explains the huge plume we saw late yesterday.

It's a small world feeling that I was just up there a few months ago ...

I've only been a serious hiker for a few years now so this is the first fire that's wiped out an area that I really got to know well. I imagine that when I go back in there this fall, there will be some mourning.

Sredfield wrote:searching for GPSJoe...

I just captured a few of our recent 5/16 comments and sent an email to Joe's son- Christian Domin so he & family could stay updated..

Is there a Willow Fire map in the archives? How much farther does this have to go before it hits what burned then?

joe bartels wrote:Sunflower Fire 2012 vs Willow Fire 2004

Just WOW! that is a lot of acres! on top of the Willow.... sheesh!