HikeArizona.COM

And so it begins....The Secret Fire...Luckily this was addressed quickly...We are seriously going to be paying for our Dry Winter....

http://azdailysun.com/news/local/high-w ... 963f4.html

Outdoor Lover wrote:We are seriously going to be paying for our Dry Winter....

hopefully not like we did last year.

Not looking great for Co. either.

@Outdoor Lover
Looks like they were getting an early start on fire prevention on Mount Graham, clearing out trees, being proactive I guess...trying to recreate the more old-growth style forest that is more fire resistant I guess...

http://www.npr.org/series/158936457/meg ... -southwest

Relevant?

Very early preseason, outlook not good.

There may not be a "season" any more, as at least in California they'v been ongoing all winter ...

My first year as a firefighter we had a B-17 drop slurry and we also had a modified B-24 that had its H- tail refitted with a single vertical and horizontal stabilizer. The forest service picked up C-130's for wildland. Instead of turning them over to private vendors to operate the forest service will be operating them and the Coast Guard maintaining them.

Btw, Southwest Wildfire Awareness Week is this week, March 30-April 5, 2014 ...

http://nmfireinfo.com/2014/04/10/lincol ... 14-300-pm/

The Lincoln NF, Sacramento RD, has it's first fire near Alamo that I am aware of, since moving here. Currently, small, but well poised to grow aside from early season conditions and calm winds in town today. It's up to 15 acres, and could threaten or consume Sun Spot. Probably wouldn't come up over the Benson Ridge, as that is really high, cool, and moist. Lots of money being thrown at it, so it probably will be suppressed fast.

It is listed as 3 to 4 miles west of Sunspot, which places it on the bench between Dog Canyon and FR 90, probably out to the west of 90 on one of the 90B or other lettered roads. Lots of camping spots out there. Also, an area that is very grassy so could burn easily. Mostly PJ, until you approach 90, then it rapidly transitions to pine and mixed conifer. But, let's be optimistic here, it could just as easily be from a woodcutter's hot chainsaw or a saw without a spark arrester, to a careless smoker, an atv user haphazardly roaming the grassy areas with malfunctioning engine, or even a child playing with matches. The possibilities, are endless.

Image is from my street.

Fire Restrictions are now in effect for several of the National Forests... http://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/l ... s/7759519/

2014-05-06: Western half of Arizona "elevated"; eastern half "critical". ( http://wildfiretoday.com/2014/05/05/fir ... day-may-6/ )

Wonder if the forest is going to be closed down before Memorial Day??? Looking bad as of now...

I love these names we give things. "Critical"! I think we need a, "super excelsior". They mean nothing, and unless you understand their ranking system, just confuse people. Critical sounds worse than elevated, but there might be something higher than critical. I think the numerical drought indexes, with 1 to 100, or some logical upper limit, are the most sensible way to do things. Names remind me too much of orange alert for terror!

Unless you live in a rainforest or a high density fog zone it seems to typically be critical...
- no rain = dry = critical
- rain = extra fuel = critical

It's an F-4 magnitude 6.8 category 5 critical red flag fire situation.

Jim_h: It's not just amount of moisture, but fuel load, terrain, type of fuel, wind speed / direction and other factors. The rating system is a way of boiling it down to terms most folks can understand. Also, if you look at the map, you will see that there is a level above "critical". I'll give you a hint: It is in western Oklahoma ...

I agree, there are numerous criteria that should factor in to the decision making algorithm, but a number, with increasing danger corresponding to increasing numerical amounts, is more logical than a name applied to the same criteria. Assuming calculations are made, from live fuel moisture, to fuel loads, to winds, relative humidity, and so on, the number will vary from during the day in afternoon when conditions are most conducive to fire spread, to night, when humidity is higher, temps lower, and winds die down. I did look at the map, but having to reference that source takes the inherent utility out of the system by requiring someone to refer to another tool to interpret and determine what name is the worst, whereas a simple number has the greatest level of inherent utility, as anyone who can count can understand that a fire danger index of 90 is greater than an index number of 60. That is my thought. :FG:

I think my phone should automatically start blaring the alarm when fire danger gets high. Like it does when there's one of those potentially deadly dust thingys 50 miles away. Or an overflowing creek near seven springs. Or that missing kid whose dad took her to the movies.

People don't really understand numbers either which is why the phone alert is the only effective way to do this.

Except possibly for taser. That could work too. Obviously.

:bdh:

Friends in Silver City just alerted me to this fire: http://krqe.com/2014/05/11/fire-erupts- ... lver-city/

According to their sources, this was a campfire that went out of control despite signs all over the place stating the high risk and fire ban. I used to live in the area and Signal Peak is a great place to ski in the winter, hike and mountain bike in the summer.