Payson Daily Bugle: Wallow Fire now at 389,000 acres

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Wallow Fire now at 389,000 acres

Wallow Fire Update

Southwest Area Type 1 Incident Management Team

North Zone Incident Commander: Joe Reinarz

South Zone Incident Commander: John Philbin

For Immediate Release: June 8, 2011 8:00 a.m.
Fire Information: 928-333-3412 (Daily from 7:00a.m. to 10:00 p.m.)
Website Info: www.inciweb.org Twitter: www.twitter.com/AS_NF Flickr (photos): www.flickr.com/apachesitgreavesnf
Date Started: 5/29/2011	Number of Personnel: Approximately 1,943
Location: south and west of Alpine, Arizona	Including 23 hotshot crews and 27 handcrews
Cause: Human – under investigation	Equipment: 9 dozers, 119 engines, 26 watertenders
Size: 389,000 acres	Aircraft: 14 helicopters
Percent Contained: 0%	Injuries to Date: none
Structures: 588 threatened; 1 damaged; 11 lost

A community meeting is being held at the Round Valley High School Auditorium Wednesday at 6:00p.m.

Current Evacuations

·       Effective Immediately: Further evacuations have been ordered by the Apache County Sheriff’s Office for all the areas south of Hwy 260 and east of Greer, including South Fork and portions of Eagar.  Hwy 260 will remain open for the evacuation and will be closed immediately after the evacuation.
·       Sunrise, Greer, Blue River, Alpine, Nutrioso, and the following subdivisions along highways 180/191: Escudilla Mountain Estates, Bonita, White Mtn. Acres, and the H-V Ranch. This area includes CR 4000, CR 4001, and CR 4225
·       The evacuation site is located at; Blue Ridge High School located at 1200 W. White Mtn. Blvd., Pinetop/Lakeside

Pre-Evacuation Alert

Pre-evacuation alert issued by Apache County Sheriff’s Office for Springerville and portions of Eager.

· Pre-evacuation alert issued by Catron County Sheriff’s Office for Luna, New Mexico.

Residents in the communities affected by this fire are asked to remain prepared in the event an order is needed.

Residents with livestock or animals that need care, please contact the Apache County Sheriff’s Office (928) 337-4321or the Greenlee County Sheriff’s Office (928) 865-4149.

Fire Update

Last night, the lower winds, higher humidity, and cooler temperatures enabled firefighters to conduct burnout operations to reinforce fire line. To the north and east, crews constructed 10 miles of line using bulldozers and burnout operations outside of Eager and Springerville. Extreme fire behavior is predicted again today due to the forecast high winds and low humidity. Red Flag Warnings are still in effect for the area. Spot fires are occurring up to 3 miles ahead of the fire. Today’s firefighter activities include: burnout operations, building fire line, perimeter control, structure protection, and patrolling for spot fires.

Closures:

Due to extreme fire conditions, the Apache National Forest is closed to all public entry. See website for closure order details. Please see the Forest website for more information: http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/asnf/

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests Fire Restrictions: A Temporary Emergency Closure Order for the Apache National Forest was issued effective June 3 at 12:00 p.m. (noon). For more information, please call the Arizona fire restrictions hotline 1-877-864-6985 or visithttp://www.wildlandfire.az.gov/.

MEDIA ADVISORY

Media should call 480-331-9554 to coordinate interviews or visit the Lead Media Public Information Officer outside the Call Center at 940 E. Maricopa St. in Springerville.
A media briefing will be conducted tonight June 7, approximately one hour following the closing of the community meeting at the Round Valley High School.

Public Information Centers are located at:

Arizona: