Juniper Fire south of Young reaches 15,000 acres

JUNIPER FIRE

Between 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Today’s Date: June 3, 2016

Fire Start Date: May 17, 2016

Size: Approximately 14,989 acres

Cause: Lightning caused

Location: about 10 miles south of Young,AZ, on the Pleasant Valley Ranger District, Tonto National Forest

Growth Potential: Fire will continue to grow slowly

Percent Contained: 16%

Resources Assigned: This morning there were 416 total personnel on the fire, with five hotshot crews, four Type 3 and 11 Type 6 engines, two initial attack and two regular fire crews, plus many command and support personnel. Large equipment includes twoType 1, two Type 2, and two Type 3 helicopters, two small fixed-wing aircraft, a masticator, and three dozers.

 State Route 288 will be open temporarily today and tomorrow, June 3rd and 4th between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., with a pilot vehicle escorting traffic.

 Smoke from the fire will head mainly toward the east this morning, then will begin toshift toward the south by this afternoon. At night smoke will tend to settle in drainages and valleys to the south, including the Roosevelt Lake area.

 The area closure around the fire planning area remains in effect. More details on theclosure below.


Summary: As temperatures rise and fuels dry, crews on the Juniper Fire have shifted most burning operations to nighttime. At night while it’s cooler and winds are lighter, fire moves more slowly and with lower flame lengths. During daylight hours, fire crews continue to build fire lines and protect structures and other senstive resoures as the Juniper Fire moves in a southerly direction. Fire managers have been assessing lands to the south, identifying and preparing sites where they do not want fire to burn and building lines to prevent fire from going down into the Sonoran desert ecosystem.

Aircraft continue to monitor the fire’sprogress on all sides. Helicopters also assist with burnout operations by dropping small, incendiary devices on ridge tops to get fire to back downhill toward the main fire’s leading edge.

Helicopters are also using 150 or 380-gallon buckets to drop water on hot spots in places that fire managers don’t want to burn or want to reduce the heat.

Helicopter doing bucket work on the fire 
As fire operations move toward the south end of the fire planning area, some fire crews will begin staying at spike camps at the south end to minimize drive time from Young. Other crews are continuing to monitor and manage existing fire lines farther north and their base camp will remain in Young.

This morning the smoke from the fire will be drifting mainly to the east and will begin to shift south by afternoon. Tonight smoke will settle into drainages and valleys to the south, affecting the Roosevelt Lake area and places south.

The area closure around the fire planning area remains in effect. It includes all National Forest System lands, roads, and trails east of State Route 288 from FR 202 (Board Tree Saddle) south to the junction with FR 203; and then west of FR 203 back up to State Route 288. It also includes all National Forest System lands, roads, and trails up to 1⁄2 mile west of SR 288 between Circle Ranch Trailhead (milepost 286.2) and milepost 279.8. This includes the Circle Ranch Trailhead and the developed campsites of Reynolds Creek and Rose Creek, and the Sawmill dispersed area.