Location of Origin: Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, Alpine Ranger District
Start Date: August 18, 2020 Size: Approximately 28,927 Acres
Cause: Lightning Percent Contained: 12
Personnel: 75 Resources Assigned: 10
Alpine, AZ – October 13, 2020 – The Cow Canyon Fire is burning in a remote location within the Blue Range Primitive Area near the Arizona and New Mexico state border. 23,817 acres of the fire are located on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, and 5,110 acres are burning on the Gila National Forest.
Operations: Firefighters continue to construct fire line, clear brush and prep for potential burnout operations to protect structures in the Blue River from being impacted by the fire. Prep work is also being done along the northern boundary on Pueblo Park Road in anticipation of burnout operations should the fire front continue to move north and threaten this main holding feature. The objective is to keep fire south of the road to mitigate any threat to the Community of Luna, NM. The fire has not reached any of the predetermined trigger points, and overall activity remains low to moderate.
Values at risk: Primary objectives are to provide protection for private property, cultural resources and historical sites. No identified values at risk have been impacted by the fire.
Closures: Some recreational trails are closed for public health and safety due to wildland fire activities along the trails. The affected trails, temporary closure order and map can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/asnf/alerts-notices/?cid=stelprd3793918.
Weather: A drying trend is expected to continue with no precipitation in the forecast. High winds are forecasted today with slightly warmer temperatures, then cooler conditions are expected later in the week.
Restrictions: The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests enacted stage 1 fire restrictions to reduce the risk of human-caused wildfires during periods of high fire danger and severe fire weather conditions. The forest order for stage 1 fire restrictions can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/asnf/alerts-notices/?cid=stelprd3793918.
Safety: Smoke may be visible in Springerville, Alpine, Clifton, and western New Mexico. Air quality can be found on the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality's webpage at https://azdeq.gov/.
Information: Updates can be found on the official incident web page at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7158/.
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{pdf}mypdfs/CowCanyonFire_SmokeOutlook_20201013-14.pdf{/pdf}