Community members visit Poco Fire base camp

Nearly 500 federal, county, and state fire personnel working 3,200-acre Poco Fire

YOUNG, Ariz. – Nearly 500 federal, county, and state fire personnel are working on the Poco Fire at a base camp established in Young, Arizona. The number of people at the base camp has temporarily doubled the size of the community. To thank the community for its hospitality, the fire base camp opened Sunday to residents who learned about fire operations.
Crews assigned to the incident are here from Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana. The base camp is a self-contained unit that has a catering facility, showers, portable restrooms, supplies, communications, medics, and more.
During the guided tours, residents learned about logistics, fire management strategies, and incident organization. About 40 community members enjoyed meeting fire personnel and thanked them for working on Father’s Day. Many conveyed appreciation to the air operations crews and the overall organization witnessed.
Approximately 3,200 acres have burned on the Pleasant Valley Ranger District within the Tonto National Forest since June 14. The fire is 15 percent contained. The fire is human caused and remains under investigation.
Poco Fire information is posted at http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2911.