Location of Origin: Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, Alpine Ranger District
Start Date: August 18, 2020 Size:                    Approximately 33,308 Acres
Cause: Lightning                                              Percent Contained: 15
Personnel: 121                                                 Resources Assigned: 14

Alpine, AZ – October 19, 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. 26,140 acres of the fire are located on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, and 7,168 acres are burning on the Gila National Forest.

Operations: Prep work is nearing completion around structures in the Blue River area, and work along the Pueblo Park road continues in preparation for burnout operations to keep the fire south of the road. Gusty winds over the weekend caused the fire to move around in Cow Canyon and in other areas where fuels were receptive, but overall movement and growth has been minimal.

Values at risk: Management objectives are to keep the fire east of the Blue River, and to provide protection for structures, cultural resources and historical sites. No values at risk have 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: A drying trend is expected to continue this week with no precipitation in the forecast. High winds are expected today through Wednesday with higher humidity levels, then cooler conditions and gusty winds are projected 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: Westerly winds are expected to carry light smoke towards highway 180 between Reserve and Glenwood today, and the community of Blue is expected to have good air quality. For air quality information, go to 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/.

{pdf}mypdfs/CowCanyonFire_Map_20201019.pdf{/pdf}

{pdf}mypdfs/2020-10-19-Cow Canyon-Smoke-Outlook.pdf{/pdf}