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GTG
Was lost but now am found
Joined: 30 Dec 2002
Posts: 2387
Location: Peoria, Arizona, originally from Rocket City, USA
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 Posted: 6/20/2003, 6:58 am Post subject: Summerhaven burns |
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0620fire-main20.html
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Summerhaven burns
Inferno engulfs 250 homes on Mount Lemmon
Judd Slivka
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 20, 2003 12:00 AM
MOUNT LEMMON - A fire fueled by 40-mph winds exploded out of the Coronado National Forest on Thursday, destroying as many as 250 homes in and around Summerhaven. It was one of the single most destructive days in Arizona history.
"Arizona lost a gem of a community today," Gov. Janet Napolitano said as she announced an aid plan.
More homes likely will be lost today as wind and dry forest continue to fuel the "Aspen" fire, said Larry Humphrey, commander of the incident management team running the fire.
The Summerhaven area is made up of about 500 homes and cabins with about 100 year-round residents. But the community fills up on weekends and in summer with people retreating from the heat.
"Things don't look good," said Judy Epstein, a photographer who has lived in Summerhaven full time for seven years. "I don't think there is much hope. I saw the smoke, and it didn't look good."
Napolitano declared a state of emergency in Pima County to respond to the fire. She set aside $75,000 to cover immediate expenses in fighting the fire and put National Guard troops on alert to help evacuated families from Summerhaven and Loma Linda.
Napolitano is expected to ask President Bush for a federal declaration of disaster and said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent six employees to assess damage.
The fire has remained geographically small at about 4,000 acres.
Last year's "Rodeo-Chediski" fire consumed 469,000 acres.
However the Aspen fire has already claimed about half the number structures that were lost in the Rodeo-Chediski fire.
"We were a mile away and we could still feel the radiant heat as the fire passed us by," said Randall Smith, a fire information officer who watched the blowout from across Sabino Canyon.
"It was hot enough that it made you look at it like you just walked in front of a heater."
How the fire grew
Firefighters tried to keep the fire from entering Marshall Gulch, which offered the flames a clear line via Sabino Canyon to the hundreds of homes and handful of businesses in Summerhaven.
But through the morning, even elite hotshot crews were repeatedly called off the fire lines because gusting winds made conditions too dangerous.
"What we've been seeing from the air is not pretty, and it's getting worse right now," Mike Behrens, a division superintendent on the fire management team, said at about 10:15 a.m.
Around noon, the fire really started getting out of control.
At 12:15, a spot fire was confirmed in Marshall Gulch, and the few fire crews that had been placed on the line were withdrawn, including all of the structure-protection units in Summerhaven.
At 12:35, a fire manager on the northwestern side of the fire was asked if he could see if the fire had run up a tree-choked ridge between the fire and Summerhaven.
"Yep, it's definitely up there."
At 12:40, the fire crested that ridge, and began torching trees 10 and 20 at a time, sending up thick clouds of black, gray and pink smoke.
The perfect fire
Conditions on Mount Lemmon are nearly perfect for flames.
The fire, believed to be human-caused, started Tuesday afternoon and rapidly grew to 50 acres in the snarled forest of ponderosa pines and Douglas firs, its floor covered with up to 5 inches of tinder-dry needles and small branches.
"I don't know what our chances are of saving Summerhaven," Humphrey said at a briefing early in the day.
The topography and forest conditions, as much as anything else, led to the fire's decimation of Summerhaven.
"The slopes were aligned and the drainages were aligned with the prevailing winds of the day. It was set up for some pretty good fire behavior," said Mike Davis, the management team's fire behavior analyst.
Those winds grew stronger through the day.
"We were standing up there and taking wind readings and we were getting gusts up to 40 mph," Smith said. "The wind was blowing so hard we couldn't hear a lot except the occasional exploding of propane tanks."
As the fire exploded, fire managers made a decision to evacuate a Boy Scout camp downhill from the fire area. The boys were driven by counselors to a Sheriff's Department substation where anxious parents waited.
"I've been nervous about the smoke and the fires jumping around and escaping, something that today proved right," said Sheryl Anthony of Tucson who was picking up her 11-year-old son.
Fire mangers planned to have crews work through the night, trying to get a handle on the fire and to protect homes near Syke Knob, downhill from where the fire came out of Marshall Gulch. By evening they had saved 60 homes in the Summerhaven and Loma Linda area.
For Humphrey, the incident commander, the Aspen fire was a study in frustration; his management team had saved Summerhaven last year in another fire.
"We managed last year to save the community, and everybody is a hero," he said. "This year, we come in and we lose the town." He said it could take two to three weeks to contain the fire.
In May 2002, the "Bullock" fire burned about 35,000 acres of forest, threatening Summerhaven and leading to an evacuation. Residents tried to clean up the area, but Humphrey said it was asking them to do the nearly impossible.
"What they've done there is a drop in the bucket," he said. "You could put a crew in there for a year, and maybe it would be defensible."
Associated Press and Tucson Citizen contributed to this article.
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It's going to be a long summer.
If you never got a chance to visit Summerhaven, you missed another of our state's best spots.
My prayers are with those fighting the fire and with those who've lost to the fire.
GTG
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Good things come to those who walk. |
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desertgirl
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 3350
Location: Chandler, AZ
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| Posted: 6/20/2003, 10:22 am Post subject: |
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Too bad -- This was a beautiful quaint place (Summerhaven) & the trails in the area had much to offer ... All will be missed.
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Photos: http://www.pbase.com/desertgirl/galleries
Life is but a dream ...there is no end to what you can dream! |
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Nealz
Joined: 06 Jan 2003
Posts: 131
Location: Alpine, Arizona
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| Posted: 6/20/2003, 12:25 pm Post subject: |
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It really is a shame. Although I certainly share the grief that Summerhaven homeowners must feel it's also an incredible loss of habitat in an area of memorable outdoor experiences. I've been through the Pusch Ridge Wilderness area and it is/was stunning.
-Nealz |
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GTG
Was lost but now am found
Joined: 30 Dec 2002
Posts: 2387
Location: Peoria, Arizona, originally from Rocket City, USA
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| Posted: 6/26/2003, 10:51 pm Post subject: Investigators: 'Aspen' fire was human-caused |
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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0626humancausedaspen-ON.html
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Investigators: 'Aspen' fire was human-caused
ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
Associated Press Writer
Jun. 26, 2003 09:45 PM
Special report
• Arizona wildfires
TUCSON - A wildfire that destroyed about 345 buildings last week when it roared through a vacation hamlet on Mount Lemmon was human-caused, investigators said Thursday.
Investigators said they ruled out the possibility that the Aspen fire was caused by lightning and other natural factors.
Still, they wouldn't say how they believe the fire that devastated the Summerhaven community was started or whether it was accidental or intentional.
"We have people we're interested in talking to," said David Conto, a fire investigator for the Pima County Sheriff's Department. "I wouldn't classify them as suspects yet."
The blaze was believed to have started near a trail southwest of Summerhaven.
The Aspen fire began June 17 on the 9,157-foot peak northeast of Tucson. Driven by the wind, flames roared through Summerhaven on the southern side of the mountain on June 19 and continued burning over the top of Mount Lemmon and down the north side.
Firefighters got help from the weather for a second day Thursday as they made progress on containing the wildfire.
The blaze has charred 32,700 acres, much of it pine forest, but is now 50 percent contained.
Calmer winds and higher humidity made it easier on crews building and strengthening firebreaks around the blaze.
Officials say southern Arizona may experience dry lightning on Friday and Saturday.
At its height, more than 1,000 firefighters and support personnel worked to contain the fire and protect the remaining homes in Summerhaven. Some of those firefighters were released Thursday to either take a break or move on to other fires.
About 800 people remained on the fire.
The community of Summerhaven had about 100 year-round residents before the fire but its population grew during the summer and weekends as Tucson residents drove up the mountain to escape the desert heat. The mountain had more than 600 homes.
No date has been set for when residents can return to their homes on Mount Lemmon.
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On the Net:
National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov
Mount Lemmon fire: http://www.fireteam-sw.com/humphrey/aspen/
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