FLAGSTAFF — Crews continued Friday building line around the now 20,924-acre Tunnel Fire northeast of Flagstaff, while battling high winds and welcoming unusual precipitation in the form of scattered rain and sporadic snow showers.

Snow and rain did help douse dry grasses and keep them from igniting more easily, but precipitation levels weren’t high enough to affect large burning logs and extreme hotspots across most of the fire. High winds also resulted in drying out precipitation very quickly after it dropped.

Two areas of the fire were active even with the moisture. The spot fire that began last night on 89 Mesa in the Schultz Fire burn scar grew to 500 acres today, with large down trees left over from the Schultz Fire helping keep the spot alive. Firefighters were able to create a line around the entire spot fire, but strong winds continued to cultivate dry conditions.

The second active area was in the northeast portion of the fire in the Strawberry Crater Wilderness area. This finger of the Tunnel Fire burned actively and fortunately moved out into flatter terrain and sparser fuel which is expected to slow the fire’s growth.

Across the rest of the fire, bulldozers and hand crews are building line around the edge of the fire between O’Leary Peak and Black Mountain and crews continued to patrol and mop up hot spots in the Timberline Estates and Wupatki Trails subdivisions, as well as along the southern flank of the fire along Forest Road 545.

Strong shifting winds out of the north and east forecast for Saturday and Sunday are still a major concern for fire managers, who are hesitant to call certain areas contained until these wind events pass, so have stuck with a containment number of 3 percent.

Current firefighting resources on scene include 371 firefighters, nine 20-person hand crews, five dozers, 30 engines, one air attack plane, two Type 1 helicopters, and one Type 3 helicopter.