Tag Archives: Jacob Lake

Jacob Lake evacuations continue as Magnum Fire expands

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JACOB LAKE — Evacuations in the Jacob Lake area continued throughout the weekend and are continuing today in areas threatened by the 24,700+ acre Mangum Fire Burning on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Coconino County Sheriff’s Office along with United States Forest Service personnel throughout the weekend and into the week, continue to patrol and search in and around the Mangum fire vicinity affecting Jacob Lake and surrounding areas. Approximately 230 people were evacuated in initial efforts with another 50 visitors evacuated/escorted out of the area over the weekend.

Sheriff Deputies, along with Forest Service Officers, made personal notifications to residents in the areas of White Sage and Lonesome during the weekend placing them in the “SET” stage for evacuation. Approximately 30 to 35 homes were contacted during this notification,

Due to proximity of the Mangum Fire, Highway 67 was closed over the weekend and remains closed at this time to all traffic. Visitors are being escorted out at intervals throughout the day up to 4:00 p.m. Forest Service and Park Officials are asking anyone wanting to leave the area to drive to Forest Service road 429 and Highway 67 where the Highway is closed, where escorts out of the fire hazard area will be facilitated by Forest Service Officers. These times are subject to change as Fire conditions change.According to the Kaibab Forest Service, risk remains for the Jacob Lake community but has diminished. Previous fuel treatments conducted by the local Ranger District Office have aided in moderating fire behavior allowing firefighters time to continue improving defensible space around the community. A night shift continued their work.

The fire spotted across containment lines along Forest Road 22 yesterday near Mangum Springs and raced north into grass, brush, and pinon/juniper towards Middle Mountain. Air tankers, including the Very Large Air Tanker, quickly responded with retardant to limit its growth.

Today crews will continue to construct fireline to minimize the fire’s northward movement northeast of highway 89A. Crews will work to attempt to secure fire’s spread near Little Mountain. Forecast weather includes less wind, but dry conditions, high temperatures, and low humidity.

Currently Hwy 89A is closed at M.P. 545 east of Jacob Lake and at mile post 608.8 west of Jacob Lake. Hwy 67 is closed to all traffic. These roadways will remain closed while the Mangum Fire continues to pose a threat to public safety.

As fire efforts continue more information will be made available. For any questions regarding the Mangum fire please contact the USFS at 602-345-0469. For information regarding the evacuation efforts please contact the Sheriff’s Office at 928-226-5089. For Road closures please contact Az Department of Transportation by dialing in state, 511, and out of state 888-411-7623, www.az511.gov

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office urges all residents to sign up for Emergency Notifications to receive any emergency notifications about the fire and possible evacuation notices. Please visit https://www.coconino.az.gov/207/Emergency-Management for information on how to register to get
emergency alerts.

North Kaibab Ranger District to host Holiday Open House

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Kaibab Forest Service photo

FREDONIA — The North Kaibab Ranger District will host a Holiday Open House at the Kaibab Plateau Visitor Center at Jacob Lake on Saturday, November 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a holiday craft activity for families and tree permits for sale.

As a reminder, the Kaibab Plateau Visitor Center will be open for Christmas tree tag sales from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on November 17-18, November 24-25 and December 1.

Christmas tree tags may also be purchased at the district office in Fredonia from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. In addition to the normal district office hours, Christmas tree tags may also be purchased from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on two Saturdays, November 24 and December 1. Please bring cash or check made payable to ‘USDA Forest Service’ for Christmas tree tag purchases.

For more information on the Holiday Open House, call (928) 643-7395.

For detailed Kaibab National Forest Christmas tree tag information throughout the season, visit http://bit.ly/KNFChristmasTags.

100 Acres of Prescribed Fire planned near Jacob Lake

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pb-fredonia-1FREDONIA — With a favorable window of opportunity expected to remain open on the North Kaibab Ranger District for the remainder of the week, North Zone fire managers plan to commence this year’s prescribed fire season as early as tomorrow by initiating ignitions in the Moquitch 4 project area.

The Moquitch 4 burn unit is geographically located approximately 6 miles south of Jacob Lake and is bound by Forest Service Road (FR) 217 and dozer line on the east, FR 282 on the west, FR 260 on the north and FR 212 on the south. Mainly comprised of ponderosa pine with scattered clumps of aspen and patches of New Mexico locust, this planned fuels treatment is intended to reduce hazardous fuel loads, improve wildlife habitat and stimulate aspen regeneration in the project area.

Fire managers began fuels treatments in this project area in June and to date completed 96 acres of the 1,104 acre planning area. Tomorrow, fire managers plan to target an additional 100 acres in the southern-most portion of this burn unit and continue working in a northerly direction throughout the following week until complete.

Implementation of prescribed fires is dependent on weather and fuel conditions including winds, temperature, humidity, moisture of the vegetation and ventilation conditions for dispersal of smoke, as well as, prior coordination with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Smoke may be visible from the vicinity of Jacob Lake, AZ Highway 67 and AZ Highway 89A.

“Understanding that smoke is often not a popular trade-off for having a healthy forest in a fire adapted ecosystem, part of our goal is to get the word out to people in our local communities as soon as possible and limit our operations to times when smoke has the best chance of dispersing,” said North Zone Fuels Specialist Dave Robinson.

Prior to igniting a prescribed burn, fire effects crew monitors use a pilot balloon (PIBAL) to construct a wind profile to determine wind direction and wind speed. If conditions are not appropriate to implement a prescribed fire treatment, then operations are halted until conditions fall within established parameters. In addition to conducting PIBAL operations, fire effects crew monitors also measure, monitor and document the effects of fuels treatment projects during implementation.

“The documentation generated by our fire monitors is important in determining how we can improve forest health and also in measuring our compliance with various laws, our forest plan and burn plans to help ensure the quality of our air, our water and our reforestation efforts,” said North Kaibab District Ranger Randall Walker.

Forest visitors are reminded to use caution when in the vicinity of fire personnel and fire vehicles during prescribed fire operations. Visitors should drive slowly, turn on headlights, and avoid stopping in areas where fire personnel are working.

Kaibab National Forest fire information is also available through the following resources: InciWeb http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/; Kaibab National Forest Fire Information Phone Line (928) 635-8311; Text Message – text ‘follow kaibabnf’ to 40404; Twitter www.twitter.com/KaibabNF.

Search for Jerold Williams continuing

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Coconino County Sheriff photo.

Coconino County Sheriff photo.

JACOB LAKE — The search continues for the missing five-year-old boy Jerold Joesph Williams who came up missing at Jacob Lake Thursday. Several agencies have been searching for the boy since.

Unfortunately searchers were dealing with heavy rains and winds estimated at 40 plus mph which created extremely muddy conditions and small windows for the use of aircraft to assist. The weather today has improved significantly and allowed for the use of more air resources. There are approximately 300-350 searchers in the field.

Personnel from many agencies have been assisting the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office and Coconino County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, including: Kane County Sheriff’s Office and Search and Rescue, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office and Search and Rescue, Mohave County Search and Rescue, US Forest Service law enforcement and fire crews, National Park Service law enforcement, AZ Game and Fish law enforcement, Coconino County CERT teams, Page Rural CERT teams, Nellis US Air Force Base, National Guard Blackhawk and Special Forces, AZ Department of Public Safety troopers and Air Rescue, Bureau of Land Management personnel and dog teams, and Civil Air Patrol.
coco-sheriff-01
The missing child is from Colorado City and there has been huge support from the community in Colorado City in assisting with this search. In addition to assisting on search teams, members of the community have been preparing meals for the responders.

The Coconino County Sheriff expressed gratitude at the community support and willingness to aid in the search

Update on missing boy

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JACOB LAKE — The search for five-year-old Jerold Williams at Jacob Lake is still active. The Coconino County Sheriff’s office issued this statement:

The search for missing 5 year old Jerold is still active and ongoing with ground and air resources. There is limited radio/phone communication in the area and we are working on that as well. There has been an outpouring of offers from people throughout Arizona and nearby communities offering to assist. We want to express our gratitude for the offers, but at this time we are not in need of additional searchers. If we need additional resources, we will certainly reach out.

Search for Jerold Joseph Williams continues

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Jerold WilliamsJACOB LAKE — There has, apparently, been a generous amount of offers by citizens to assist in the search or Jerold Williams, the five-year-old missing since yesterday. With several agencies already on scene, however, the Coconino County Sheriff’s office is requesting that the public only call in any known information to 928-226-5012. They would like to keep the phone line open only for tips and not for general inquires. Any unauthorized search parties risks erasing clues which might lead to the whereabouts of the five-year-old.

Five-Year-Old boy goes missing near Jacobs lake

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UPDATED: 8/7, 9:27: Photo added
Jerold WilliamsJacobs Lake, AZ — The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office received the report yesterday at about 5:30 p.m. of a missing 5 year-old boy at an unimproved campsite located approximately 12 miles south of Jacobs Lake in the area of Highway 67 off of Forest Service Road 241. This area lies within the northern portion of the Kaibab National Forest.

Jerold Joseph Williams is described as a white male, 5 years of age, approximately 3’6” in height, and weighing approximately 35 pounds. He has brown eyes and brown hair cut very short. Jerold’s mother described him as having a thin build and a light complexion. Jerold had visible facial abrasions and was last seen wearing a gray or tan shirt size (4) and a pair of blue jean pants size (4) and hiking boots size (12) and white long handled underwear.

Coconino County Sheriff’s Deputies were immediately dispatched to the campsite. Upon their arrival they spoke with the missing child’s mother who identified her son as Jerold Joseph Williams.

According to Mrs. Williams she and her son were with 15 to 20 other friends and family members who were camping in the area. At approximately 1:30 pm Jerold and his mother were approximately 100 to 200 yards from the camp site and Jerold was chasing grasshoppers. Mrs. Williams lost site of the child and for the following 4 hours members of the camping group to include Mrs. Williams searched for Jerold. At approximately 5:30 pm the decision was made to call the Sheriff’s Office.

The search continued through the night with personnel from various agencies, 2 search dogs and two night-vision equipped helicopters from Nellis Air Force Base searched the area where Jerold was believed to be missing.

Anyone with information regarding the possible location of Jerold Williams or the circumstances leading up to his disappearance is urged to call the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office.