Beaverhead Fire near Alpine and Hannagan

azbackpackr

A potentially dangerous fire started today between Hannagan Meadow and Alpine. It's of great concern to all of us up in this area. If they evacuate Alpine the people will be sent here, to the high school Dome, just like during the Rodeo fire, so all the cops are on call tonight in case they have to help with that. The people in Alpine have been told to be ready to evacuate. The fire was accidentally started near the Greenlee County line on Hwy 191 (666) by ADOT workers who are working on repaving the road. The wind was truly horrific today, very scary with all the dry heat.

Below is from Azcentral. As best I could copy and paste:

Associated Press
Jun. 15, 2006 04:14 PM

ALPINE - Authorities evacuated three homes Thursday in the path of a growing 150-acre wildfire 13 miles south of Alpine.

The Beaverhead Fire, which started early Thursday afternoon, was "fairly close" to Josh Place, a 40-acre stretch of private land which contained three residences and some outbuildings, said Bob Dyson, spokesman for the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.

It was not known how many people occupied the residences or where they sought shelter. advertisement

Winds of up to 50 mph were making it difficult for crews to contain the fire, which burned was hilly terrain comprised of Ponderosa Pine and mixed conifer.

"We can't do much to slow this fire down at this point," Dyson said. "We have to wait until the winds die down."

The blaze also crossed Highway 191, forcing a road closure between Alpine and Hannigan Meadow.

A Type 2 crew, which is called for complex fires, was among the workers on the scene.

Alpine is about 160 miles east of Phoenix, six miles from the New Mexico state line.

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desertgirl · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 3350 Location: Chandler, AZ

I hope it does not get to Hannigan Meadow...I wanna camp there ...its sooo pretty there
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azbackpackr · Posted: 6/15/2006, 9:14 pm Post subject:

Oh, it's all pretty along there, including what's burning. It is not going toward Hannagan, it's going toward Alpine. I was just down that way last week. Makes me sad. I know about the fire-adapted ecology and yada yada yada, but I still don't like to see it happen. This particular fire in these conditions could really take off. Everyone is worried.

Nealz · Joined: 06 Jan 2003 Posts: 131 Location: Alpine, Arizona

There was a little smoke in town this morning but the most recent news is that it has grown to 1000-1200 acres. the wind was hellacious yesterday with 60 mph gusts at times. However, it got down to the mid 30's last night and today the winds are nominal which helps a lot. Crews worked all night and today the water and slurry bombing has begun. The word at the Post Office - we don't get home or Rural Delivery, so everyone tootles down to the PO to pickup or drop off their mail - is that the fire is about 50% contained. The Forest Service District Ranger Office in Alpine looks like US Army HQ's in Bagdad. Humvees and fire equipment everywhere. I'm about 15 miles NE of the fire, at the moment, and have packed the necessities - personal docs and pix, dog, some homebrew, change of underwear, so I'm good to go if need be. So far, so good. At 4 pm, the stage 3 fire officials are supposed to make another news update. Cross your fingers and say a prayer.

-Nealz

BoyNhisDog · Posted: 6/16/2006, 3:59 pm Post subject:

That whole area is just magic. Bummer!

Nealz, I didn't know you live in Alpine. I have some very fond memories of that place.
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