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FLAGSTAFF – According to the evening update of last night, pre-evacuation orders are still in effect for Mt. Elden Lookout Estates, north and west of Hwy 89 and Silver Saddle, Hutcheson Acres, McCann Estates all of Timberline communities including, Black Bill Park, Wupatki Trails and Pine Mountain Estates. All areas, including the upper eastside neighborhoods of Flagstaff, including Cedar Hills, Shadow Mountain, Christmas Tree, Skyline, Swiss Manor and Upper Greenlaw should be in the “Ready” stage or “prepare now.”
The American Red Cross has set-up a shelter at Sinagua Middle School, 3950 E Butler Ave in Flagstaff.
The fire, fueled by Ponderosa pines and mixed conifer, grew to about 1000 acres last night. It is reported the winds carrying embers have caused more fires to start up. The complexity of this fire has caused the forest service to call in the Southwest Area Incident Management Team #2 (IMT), led by Incident Commander Rich Nieto—a Type 1 Incident Management Team—that should take over management of the fire at approximately 6 p.m.
According to the latest press release by Coconino Forest service:
Wildland firefighters are using every available aerial platform in the southwest region on a wildfire in the Dry Lake Hills area north of Flagstaff today.
The Museum Fire, currently about 1,000 acres, was very active overnight. Crews were not able to conduct burnout operations due to the activity and the fire spotting ahead of itself, but took indirect suppression tactics where they could.
The fire was flanked with retardant and water from more than a dozen aircraft Sunday in an effort to keep it in the Schultz Pass area and limit its spread north and south. Spotting was noted toward the east, and hand crews are working to create a fire line to work on containment that ties in with aerial suppression.
Fire managers will be using direct and indirect tactics to suppress the fire today. A heavy air component is expected as the objectives are to keep the fire east and south of Forest Road 420 (Schultz Pass Road), west of U.S. Highway 89, and north of the Pipeline Road and those communities.
Heavy smoke will be visible from Flagstaff and other local communities. The public should use extreme caution when driving on U.S. Highways 180 and 89 north of Flagstaff and stay out of the fire area.
The Emergency Operation Center in Flagstaff remains open and a call center has been set up at 928-213-2990 for questions. They ask that you use this number for questions about evacuations and shelter related items only. They do not field information about power and phone outages and missing persons. If you are concerned about the safety of someone, contact the Flagstaff Police Department at 928-774-1414 or Coconino County Sheriff at 928-774-4523. For power outages you can check the APS web site.