Picket Fire Update

Boyce Arboretum near Superior (Picketpost Mountain in the distance)

The Picket Fire burned up to 1,000 acres by Boyce Arboretum (pictured above) near Superior

As of 8 a.m. Monday, May 9, the Picket Fire, 55 miles due east of Phoenix off State Route 60 in the Tonto National Forest, was 40 percent contained and had burned up to 1,000 acres, but did not damage any structures.

Firefighters responding to the blaze Sunday afternoon kept the fire from spreading to Boyce Arboretum near Superior, a 320-acre living classroom, home to 3,200 species of desert and dry land plants and 230 bird and 72 terrestrial species.

The following statement appeared today on the Boyce Arboretum web site:

"The Arboretum is closed Monday, May 9, while fire crews continue to suppress patches of fire associated with The Picket Fire which flared Sunday afternoon. Wildfire burned boundary areas west and south, but did not burn Arboretum collections. The Arboretum should reopen Tuesday, May 10, at 6:00 a.m. -- but please call 520-689-2723 to verify our reopening before you drive up. Arboretum Director Mark Siegwarth and our staff, our members and volunteers offer our sincere thanks to the United States Forest Service firefighters and fire crews from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and all our neighboring communities for their work suppressing the fire."

One Type 2 crew from the San Carlos Indian Reservation and four engines remain at the site of the blaze doing perimeter work and beginning mop-up.

According to information from the U.S. Forest Service, the fire has settled down today with less windy conditions. Highway 60, which was closed earlier, opened at 7 p.m. Sunday and remains open.

An investigation into the origin of the fire continues.