Topic: Goodwin fire, near Prescott AZ

[scottly]

This fire got started on Saturday, and I didn't notice the smoke until Sunday afternoon, and then it seemed far away. Yesterday, there was a lot more smoke, but it was still pretty far away. Today, the winds from the SW blew the fire this direction, and they evacuated both Mayer, about 10 miles away, and Poland Junction, about 5 miles away, by late afternoon. Highway 69 southbound was closed at the intersection of Main St Humboldt and 69, and the only northbound traffic was evacuees. By this time they were ramping up the fight from the air, using up to two air tankers in the air at the same time, and I don't know how many helicopters with Bambi buckets; I only saw one, but they may have been used more on the other side of the fire.

[scottly]

This morning the fire was 4400 acres, now they are saying 18,000 acres!

[Stev-o]

That looks massive!    Hope it keeps its distance from you, Scott

[754]

Looks like too close..are you in an interface area?  Or do you have several houses/buildings around you on all sides? Better pray for no wind.    Hope it misses you...

[scottly]

The wind has been a major factor; I had to literally hold onto my hat a few times when out by the highway where the pic was taken. If it makes a run tomorrow like it did today, we're in trouble.    

[RAFster122s]

Yes, high winds overnight and throughout the day really increased both the difficulty for air crews and smoke jumpers and ground fire fighters to try and contain the fire. The wind can lift embers a long way allowing it to easily spread and the massive heat can actually take them up to a mile away when the material is light enough and slow burning...making the fire jump distances easily.  So, fire lines become much harder to create with enough distance.  Back cutting to burn areas to deprive the fire of material in the path with fire becomes very difficult to safely do as well.

Stay safe Scott.

Yesterday they were reporting 5 aerial units fighting the blaze. With the big jump in acreage they likely have increased that by at least another couple.

Hope the wind will die down and the fire fighting crews can get it under containment.  The fire that hit Gatlinburg TN last year had winds over 70-80mph and you simply cannot fight fire in those winds.  A good friend is a firefighter and he was part of a crew of 13 trucks that went to help fight that fire and at one point they were surrounded by fire trying to extinguish some structural fires on their way into Gatlinburg and had not even got into the city yet where they were blocked by the fire.  If God had not sent rain to extinguish the blazes they were going to die as it was going to be a matter of minutes before they would die trapped in that inferno.   The winds really played a huge factor in that fire. Destroying thousands of structures and killing 13-14 people (don't recall number exactly) It was fortunate that the number was so low.

Hope and pray things turn around for that fire...
The fires in California which were so widespread a few years ago they started using satellite imagery to help identify the hot spots to direct air assets as they had to use IR imagery because of the smoke obscuring and preventing the normal visual observation and control of those fire fighting assets.  I know several people who made some quick modifications on some software and product in the military's operation that helped make that possible.  Imagine that might be employed in big fires in the future that pose those kinds of challenges...

[RAFster122s]

Containment dropped to 1% and fire increased acreage to 21,000 acres overnight.  Dewy Humboldt is on a Pre-Evacuation notice, meaning oders to evacuate may come with typical window if I recall correctly of a couple hours to evacuate.  Scott is likely to be affected if they pull the trigger to evacuate that area...

Once they evacuate you have to have proof of residence in affected area to re-enter when that is allowed again.  Friends whom were affected by the Monument Fire in Hereford & Sierra Vista almost did not have prood of address to re-enter as their mailing address was on their license and if they hadnot had their voter registration card they would not have been allowed re-entry after having been out of their home for 2 days and it was not for another 2 days before restricted entry was lifted.

David

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Fingers crossed for you. Not much you can do. Hoping you aren't close to the forest but the wind can blow fire from house to house.

[riverfever]

Oh man I feel for you. We were evacuated in 2012 and that is a helpless experience. Doing a rain dance for you! Hang in there.

[754]

Well I hope he is getting ready,and doing what he needs to do.
 Hoping fir a good outcome..

[flybox1]

Sending you good vibes to come out of this unscathed.
Sprinklers on and ride like he!! if the time comes.

[RAFster122s]

I am going to need to check Scott's address later.  Dewey west of SR69 is under evacuation orders now.  Dewey - Humboldt are cities/towns that abutt one another.  If like around here crossing a street can net you a different city address.  My brother lives on one side of Fall Branch road with a Blountville address and on the other side less than 3/8 mile away my sister's  address is Kingsport.

www.abc15.com has updated info on their website about evacuations and the fire's status. 
It has grown to 32 square miles and the governor has mobilized more resources.

[RAFster122s]

Scott has a shop space with nice machine equipment and his VW and Ferrari and several other things that cannot be easily moved and would be irreplaceable were they to be destroyed. The truck and trailer can only carry so much and the Seeley is one of them.  Problems with fire (wild fires) unless you carry that coverage it is declared an act of God and insurance can get out of paying a claim. Same deal with flooding and water backup. If you have a sump pump you should carry water backup as cleanup from flooding if the pump fails and you have a real mess on your hands. Came home from a 2 week vacation in Florida and Bahamas to find an inch or two of water in our basement, 1/2 of it finished other half a workshop...tons of things on the floor destroyed by water damage. Sump pump had failed and water backed up and flooded the basement as a result. Even replacement coverage is a pain because you have to go out and buy replacements to get the money for your loss after the deductible and some things that are rare/ hard to find, or are irreplaceable cannot be replaced.

[scottly]

Still here! The wind, at least at ground level this morning was coming from the SE, pushing the fire away from Humboldt, but towards Dewey. I did hear one report that the Dewey evacuation had been lifted, but there is very little reliable info available. The temps were lower today; 91.8 compared to 98.1 yesterday, and the forecast is for less wind tomorrow.
They added a DC 10 air tanker today; it's really weird to see such a huge plane flying so slowly.

[RAFster122s]

Glad you were able to stay!  Hope that they were able to get it under more control with some impact with the DC10 in the mix.  Not sure where they are having to operate it from.  The loading and turn around time having a great deal of impact on it's effectiveness.  Is Evergreen  operating that DC10 or is it another commercial firefighting company?

The cooler temps certainly will help matters a lot for the firefighters as well as the fire spread.

David

[riverfever]

Excellent news. Bringing the tanker in should definitely help along with the cooler temps and shift in wind. When they finally brought in tankers here for the Waldo Canyno fire they used C130's and it was bizarre watching such a massive plane move at what appeared to be such a slow speed. I'm not a plane guy but I think the DC10 is even larger which would be more impressive to see.

Any ideas on what started the fire? We've had half a dozen fires already this summer but they've been able to get them put out pretty quickly. Apparently the big thing here now is to go out in the national forest and shoot at explosive targets.

[RAFster122s]

C130 Hercules is massive, but it is dwarfed by the C5 Galaxy.  A DC10 Air Tanker carries up to 10,000 gallons of water or retardant.

The Hercules with a MAAFS unit carries 3000 gallons.

David

[scottly]

They let Mayer residents return today at 10:00 AM, but they had to backtrack to I-17, as highway 69 southbound is still closed. They just reported that the fire is 25% contained. Dewey west of 69 is still evacuated, but I don't understand why. Much less smoke today.

[754]

We had the Martin Mars on our fire here as well as many smaller one..
 Serious big aircraft that one.
One day on the beach by our big bridge, the smaller one were banking into the scoop run...70 feet above us, you could see their faces...

[TwoTired]

[scottly]

Latest update is the fire is now 43% contained.

[RAFster122s]

Thursday morning 28,800 acres reported by officials in Forestry Service.  Wed evening around 6 all firefighting aircraft had to be grounded when some idiot broke flight rules and flew a drone in the area.  Possibly in response to PrescotteNews sponsoring a photo contest or unrelated just some uncaring or ignorant person flying their drone to get footage of the fire. Putting firefighters at risk as a result.  Crap like that results in legislation and bad things for those who use them in responsible ways or operate Radio Controlled planes, helicopters, gliders, etc as a hobbist.

Hope they are able to continue the strides getting it under control.  Habitat for animals and people as well as impacts to water supplies and the area's stability for tourism and just living there is negatively impacted after big fires.  Errosion control can be very difficult with multiple ripples caused by just that one aspect.
Air quality impacts many on oxygen and asthma and allergies...etc.

[flybox1]

Thursday morning 28,800 acres reported by officials in Forestry Service.  Wed evening around 6 all firefighting aircraft had to be grounded when some idiot broke flight rules and flew a drone in the area.  Possibly in response to PrescotteNews sponsoring a photo contest or unrelated just some uncaring or ignorant person flying their drone to get footage of the fire.

To the front lines for that guy! 

Glad theyre getting a handle on things.

[CycleRanger]

Latest update is the fire is now 43% contained.

So it still has 57% of its usable fuel left to burn.....

Reminds me of the Bastrop fire we had near here in 2011.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastrop_County_Complex_Fire
I live like 50 miles away and could see the smoke. I drove out towards it for a better look and from even 20 miles away it looked like Dresden in 1945....

Stay safe, stay cool.