3,200 told to be ready to flee wildfire

Crews rush to Arizona to beat back flames; holiday burned out in tourist areas

Coconino National Forest Battalion Chief Preston Mercer (left) and fire information officer Bill Morse survey a fire Wednesday in Oak Creek Canyon, Ariz., as crews face off with a raging blaze.

Coconino National Forest Battalion Chief Preston Mercer (left) and fire information officer Bill Morse survey a fire Wednesday in Oak Creek Canyon, Ariz., as crews face off with a raging blaze.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

OAK CREEK CANYON, Ariz. — Hundreds of firefighters poured into Arizona on Wednesday to battle a windwhipped wildfire in a canyon near Sedona that sent up choking plumes of smoke and scuttled Memorial Day weekend plans in the popular hiking and camping area.

Authorities warned about 3,200 residents between Sedona and Flagstaff that they needed to be ready to evacuate if the fire made another advance. By Wednesday afternoon, the fire had grown to an estimated 7 square miles, or about 4,500 acres. The erratic and gusty winds briefly grounded air tankers that were sent in to fight the fire.

The fire broke out at the start of the tourist season and closed the main road between Sedona and Flagstaff — two cities that attract many visitors in summer months. The fire is burning near Slide Rock State Park, a popular recreation area because of its natural rock waterslides.

Sophie Lwin of Peoria said she had relatives from the Los Angeles area heading in for a weekend at the Butterfly Garden Inn, which had to evacuate because of the fire. She said the area is her favorite destination, and she and her husband visit the Sedona area at least five times a year.

“It’s Memorial Day weekend. It’s going to be so hard and so expensive to get anything anywhere else,” she said.

About 500 firefighters and other personnel are already assigned to the fire, including 15 Hotshot crews.

Windy conditions forced firefighters to temporarily halt air resources such as retardant. They were flying again Wednesday evening.

Crews were focused on keeping the fire west of a highway near threatened homes.

There were no reports so far of injuries or structures burned. The exact cause of the fire wasn’t known, but authorities believe it was human-caused.

The fire forced the evacuations of 100 threatened businesses and homes in a 2-mile stretch north of the state park, and 15 people were staying at a shelter in Flagstaff. About 3,200 people in the communities of Kachina Village and Forest Highlands were told that they needed to be ready to evacuate.

“As you can see, we are dealing with some pretty extraordinary circumstances with this fire. I want to reiterate that you basically have received your pre-evacuation notice. This is your time to get ready,” said Robert Rowley, emergency manager for Coconino County.

The fire comes less than a year after a blaze in nearby Prescott killed 19 firefighters who were part of a Hotshot crew.

As Wednesday’s fire moved up the canyon’s steep walls, it sent up large amounts of smoke and ash and created hazy conditions in Flagstaff, about 10 miles from the blaze.

The blaze presented several challenges for firefighters, including steep terrain, thick pine forest, gusting winds and drought conditions, said Bill Morse, a Flagstaff Fire Department captain and a spokesman for firefighting managers. He also said the terrain made it difficult for firefighters to stay in contact on their radios.

But Morse said calming fire conditions in Southern California have freed up extra crews to fight the Arizona fire.

“Fortunately, the fires in San Diego have calmed down enough for the resources to be released here,” Morse said.

The evacuees included Nathan and Mickella Westerfield, young honeymooners from Phoenix who arrived at a campground in the canyon Tuesday afternoon. They were headed into Sedona for dinner when they passed the fire, which was burning shrubs and trees in a small valley visible from the highway.

As other passers-by stopped to take pictures of the fire, a firefighter told the couple they couldn’t return to their campground to retrieve their newly purchased camping gear and other belongings, Nathan Westerfield said.

Red Cross spokesman Trudy Thompson Rice said most of the 15 people who stayed Tuesday night at the shelter at a Flagstaff school were campers. The Westerfields were among those who spent the night there.

Three other fires were reported Wednesday around the state, including a 150-acre forest fire east of Payson in northern Arizona.

Crews also were battling a 200-acre wildfire on the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation southwest of Tucson and a 450-acre brush fire on the Babacomari Ranch in the southern Arizona town of Sonoita.

Information for this article was contributed by Astrid Galvan of The Associated Press.

A Section on 05/22/2014