Horseshoe Fire Slowly Pushes Northeast

This morning's fire map shows the northerly movement through yesterday of the Horseshoe Fire. Today's moderately strong winds have been driving the fire further north than this map depicts, although not at a very fast rate. For reference, the blue box on the map is around Portal Peak, which the fire is approaching as it burns to the northeast.

Fire map on June 11

Since this map was printed, I was told that the fire has burned downslope more into the South Fork and Log Canyon drainages, filling in some previously unburned areas. This map also shows in the lower right corner the lightning-ignited Darnell Fire of 2002. Many people in the community will remember gathering in Rodeo that summer for our 4th of July festivities, against a backdrop of the Chiricahua Mountains aflame in the night: that was the Darnell Fire.

The photos below show smoke rising from behind those cliffs which frame Portal (and which hide any view of Portal Peak from town), and the last shows a column of smoke behind Portal Peak itself, taken from a vantage along the Portal-Rodeo Road.

Smoke from the Horseshoe Fire today in Portal

(Photos by Narca)

The Horseshoe Fire advances behind Portal Peak

Horseshoe Fire Behavior

Yesterday's milder winds drove the Horseshoe Fire a ways north along the spine of the Chiricahua Mountains. The fire encountered rocky bluffs which limited its northward spread and, to the east, sparse vegetation which limited its downslope spread.

In the critically important South Fork Canyon, moderate fire has continued to burn downslope as far as the main riparian corridor, filling in the previously unburned areas of the south slope. Also in South Fork's tributary of Log Canyon, fire is continuing to burn downhill and through the entire tributary.

Today and tomorrow winds are predicted to be stronger, sustained at about 25 mph, so, in our wait-and-see game... we'll wait and see!

I did pick up a new fire map and will post it this evening when I'm home. Here at the Chiricahua Gallery in Rodeo, technology is limited!

Big Smoke from the Horseshoe Fire

Firefighters contending with the Horseshoe Fire achieved 25% containment when water drops were successful in stopping the fire's advance across the upper South Fork drainage.

Today's huge plume of smoke (the biggest yet seen during this fire) resulted from the fire's run upslope in the southwest portion of the burn, away from Portal and away from South Fork Canyon.

Smoke plume from Portal-Paradise junction

(Photo by Barbara Miller)

Plume of smoke visible from near the Rustler-Barfoot Junction;

old Rattlesnake burn is in the foreground.

(Photos by Narca)

The fire crews are reorganizing today and by the end of the day should have decided what type of crew to leave behind to continue to monitor and to play cat-and-mouse with the Horseshoe Fire, until the monsoon rains come and finally extinguish it. The Type 1 team which has headed the effort until now is needed elsewhere, especially in Alaska and Canada, where warm and dry conditions are creating the worst fire season ever seen in the boreal forest. Just yesterday, 1300 new fires started in Canada! Concern is even being expressed for the survival of the entire boreal forest ecosystem, as global warming continues to create such fire-susceptible conditions in a habitat that is not fire-adapted. The need in Alaska and Canada is much greater, so our Type 1 team is moving on.

One public information officer offered this compliment to the Portal-Rodeo community: she said it was one of the most enjoyable fires she had ever worked, because the community was so completely and intelligently engaged. You've asked great questions, given the firefighters unstinting support, and you haven't panicked.  (Cathy Conti, they don't know how to reach you: thanks for the cake!)

Here is this morning's fire map, showing the fire's advance across upper Log Canyon, connecting with the low-intensity burn which was ignited on the ridge northeast of Log Canyon. The canyon bottom was wet enough that the fire did not connect across it. Apparently the initial assessment of moisture content in the fuel load was much less than what they're finding now, and the fire isn't burning as readily as it was expected to do.

The large gray area to the west is the 1994 Rattlesnake burn, which the Horseshoe Fire is burning into; the current fire is not expected to advance very far into the old burn. Today's big smoke plume, however, must have been within the old burn near Helipad 1 (H-1), if I interpret Buck Wickham's statements rightly. Tomorrow's fire map should clarify that point. The small gray patch to the east is the South Fork Fire, another fire ignited this May, most likely by an illegal immigrant, only 3 weeks before the Horseshoe Fire. Fuels were wetter and conditions cooler during the South Fork Fire, and only 88 acres were burned then. As of this morning, the Horseshoe Fire had burned 2200 acres.

Horseshoe Fire Enters Log Canyon

Yellow and yellow-orange areas show the spread of Horseshoe Fire during morning and afternoon of June 3, 2010.

Most recently the Horseshoe Fire has been spreading north and east, touching the bottom of Log Canyon in a couple of spots. Log Canyon is a major tributary of South Fork, where deep pools have thus far allowed small native fish to survive every drought. The confluence of Log Canyon and South Fork is especially rich, and in past years Eared Quetzals have feasted in this spot on the fall berries of Arizona Madrone trees.

Eared Quetzal in Arizona Madrone 

(Watercolor by Narca)

Mary Rasmussen, an information officer for the Forest Service, today likened the fire strategy to a cat-and-mouse dynamic, the fire being the mouse. When the fire advances in one place, the fire crews put a paw in its path, in the form of a low-intensity burn along a ridgeline. What does that mean for Log Canyon? Yesterday firefighters aerially ignited (remember the ping-pong balls?) the ridges to the northeast of the main fire. Those disjunct fires are now burning downslope towards the bottom of Log Canyon, opposite the area being burned by the main fire.

Ignited fire on ridges above Log Canyon, from road to Onion Saddle

Against expectations, the fire has not yet entered the riparian corridor in South Fork. That vegetation is wetter and has so far been resisting the fire's incursion.

Mary also addressed a rumor floating around, that the Forest Service and fire crews had planned a 32,000-acre "burn-out." This isn't true. The only fires being ignited are those needed to manipulate the spread of the fire, to encourage a low-intensity burn.

Yesterday, a big column of smoke blew up behind our house, as the fire burned the new ridges and the winds shifted.

Smoke behind our house, drifting toward Rodeo NM

(Photos by Narca)