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Update on the Slide Fire in Oak Creek Canyon....
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/3874/21919/
perminate --> http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3874/

10:00 News reported 500 Acres so far with a Type 1 Team arriving in the Morning...30 MPH Winds expected tomorrow with 0% Containment to this Point. Human Caused.... I was up in this area over the Weekend and it is tinder box dry up there!

Badger Fire near Sunset Point is 50% Contained at 200 Acres...Also Human Caused...
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3875/

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 8519_n.jpg
I does look promising!

It looks like they are burning out around the Barney, if anyone cares about that. Otherwise, the fire is being "contained" with back burns out by 231, and then some random strip SW of the Barney, out near the Snake Fire scar. I know many lament this fire, but it has had the affect of allowing for extensive burning operations in areas that needed them, but otherwise would never have received them. Keep in mind that much of what you might love about West Fork, is no less a product of a lack or, or miss-management, than a dense dog hair thicket. Maples, however, are not likely to burn.

I noticed all the "back burning" etc. as part of this fire. I suspect it is being used as an opportunity to do a lot of burning that should be done and would take years of administrative work to do as prescribed fires. Plus all the equipment and personnel are on site. And lot of fire personnel got to convert a long weekend into overtime dollars--not a bad thing for them either.

@Sredfield
They have been doing that for years.

Reckon many see this fire as purely a bad thing, but considering a fire, like a rain storm, was inevitable, this was a good fire.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/coconinonationalforest

The images look good. Doesn't mean there are not hot areas in there, but I think a lot of what burned hot and fast was chaparral.

@Jim_H
I agree Jim. I'm going to quote the caption text here for those that don't bother to look for themselves. Because it answers what seems to be one of the biggest questions for the average/casual observer/hiker/photographer.

Much of the West Fork area, including the Call of the Canyon trail, received low intensity fire effects. Fire moved primarily on the ground with flame lengths of 4ft and less leaving tree canopies and riparian areas intact. However, the area remains extremely dangerous with active fire and other hazards. Firefighters continue to actively monitor conditions throughout the canyon.

Looks like light to moderate rain may be headed to the Slide Fire. Some bizarre late May trough headed over the western Rim.

@Jim_H
Should be good. Not enough to cause any runoff, but possibly a chance to get some grass to root? I think the fire is basically under control. At 55% containment (officially) I think it's just a matter of doing some control burns that they want and maintaining federal funding for another week or two.

We've had light rain off and on here in Williams for the past hour or so, and lots of wind! So I'm assuming some will fall on the fire.

Archeologists find treasures in Slide Fire

PHOENIX (AP) -- A team of archaeologists working to preserve significant sites near the Slide Fire in northern Arizona has found a potentially historic cabin and arrowhead.

http://www.azfamily.com/home/Archeologi ... 47431.html

@Dave1
cabin find was in the paper today.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... ploaded=15

Check out some images of the Slide affects. Not bad. Also, notice photo #3 of the AB Young.

The monsoon is going to have all kinds of fun with that area.

While it's probably not going to happen, it would be nice if the individual who caused this would spend a lot of years in prison... It really is too bad that you can't fix stupid.

Quote from a BLM friend who worked the fire:

"Oak Creek Canyon lovers: The Canyon is still green and intact... Still beautiful... Campgrounds unharmed, resorts in Canyon fine, just a little nuked landscape near Slide Rock State Park and in some places on the Canyon Walls... west side. When I hiked into lower West Fork trail last Sunday after fire went through there, understory was burned out/cleaned out and tall Ponderosa Pines unburned... Nice understory cleaning, as I suspect the rest of West Fork is from the IR imagery we looked at everyday!! The top of the Plateau looks like the same nice understory cleaning, with 95% of the canopies of the P-Pine untouched."

Sredfield wrote:Quote from a BLM friend who worked the fire:

"Oak Creek Canyon lovers: The Canyon is still green and intact... Still beautiful... Campgrounds unharmed, resorts in Canyon fine, just a little nuked landscape near Slide Rock State Park and in some places on the Canyon Walls... west side. When I hiked into lower West Fork trail last Sunday after fire went through there, understory was burned out/cleaned out and tall Ponderosa Pines unburned... Nice understory cleaning, as I suspect the rest of West Fork is from the IR imagery we looked at everyday!! The top of the Plateau looks like the same nice understory cleaning, with 95% of the canopies of the P-Pine untouched."

Thanks for this, Shawn! I went out to the Oak Creek Overlook today and it didn't look bad at all from up there. Surely some crowning happen here and there but mainly way up. Of course, I couldn't see into West Fork but the upper reaches of the canyon were very much a mosaic burn, looked to me like equal parts severe, moderate, and low intensity. It'll be interesting to see the erosion and flooding issues that arise, but we really won't know that until the rains come.

Also, today on the Arizona Highways blog there was a post by local photographer Larry Lindahl (great photographer, by the way) titled "The Lost Jewel." No disrespect to Arizona Highways as I generally love their magazine, their content, their other publications, and their love for Arizona, but I thoroughly disagree with Lindahl's article. The last few days we have gotten multiple reports (backed by photos) that West Fork of Oak Creek is still very much intact with riparian beauty, yet Lindahl seems to ignoring all of this. He's entitled to his opinion on the destruction, I suppose, but I think it's really unnecessary to keep beating this dead horse of the entire canyon being lost when it is simply not true. No disrespect to Lindahl, but I simply don't agree with that post and would have preferred to see something far less negative. That's my rant.

I think Larry is on Summitpost as lcarreau.

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/photos/AZCOF/20 ... 93-CDT.pdf

a pdf map of the burn severity. Looks pretty good, overall.

Naylor has a piece in the az republic today as well.