Location of Origin: Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, Alpine Ranger District
Start Date: August 18, 2020
Size: Approximately 30,009 Acres
Cause: Lightning
Percent Contained: 15
Personnel: 94
Resources Assigned: 10

Alpine, AZ – October 14, 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. 24,495 acres of the fire are located on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, and 5,514 acres are burning on the Gila National Forest.

Operations: Structure protection prep work continues for possible burnout operations to protect private inholdings in the Blue River area. Fire crews are also working along the Pueblo Park road to prep for burnout operations to keep the fire south of the road. Today a crew of firefighters will travel by horseback into the north eastern portion of the fire to scout for potential holding features along projected containment lines. There has been minimal movement of the fire along the southern portion of the fire as yesterday it continued burning Yam Canyon and Dutch Blue Creek. Westerly winds today should push the fire on the western flank and southern edge back into itself, slowing its progress.

Values at risk: Crews will continue to protect cultural and historical areas and provide protection for private property. Identified values at risk have not been impacted by the fire.

Closures: A temporary area closure is in effect, and includes some recreational trails that are closed to protect public health and safety due to wildland fire activities in the restricted area. The temporary area closure and maps can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/asnf/alerts-notices/?cid=stelprd3793918.

Weather: Today is expected to be the warm and dry with no precipitation forecast. High winds are expected through Monday, but higher humidity levels are expected as well. The forecast is calling for slightly warmer and drier air mid-week, with cooler conditions later in the week. Gusty winds are possible towards the end of 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 is expected to impact the Blue River today. Gusty winds will move smoke toward the highway 180 corridor near Glenwood, NM. Luna, Reserve, Clifton and Alpine will see hazy skies throughout the day. 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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