The smoke was bad last night. I have a swamp cooler, not AC, so I had to turn it out and shut down the house because a swamp cooler pulls air into the house. When I was on the phone today with Dick Fleishman, media liason, the smoke was the first thing I asked about.
He told me that smoke is expected to settle and sink at night, which could impact air quality in lower areas and remain noticeable into the morning. So, yes, we had a reprieve later this morning and this afternoon but the smoke is coming back.
Dick reminded me that this is shaping up to be a long-duration event. Until the area receives significant rainfall, the fire will keep burning. Crews will focus on mopping up along containment lines, but fuels deeper inside the perimeter will continue to burn themselves out over time.
The fire will keep advancing as conditions allow. Since fires tend to move uphill, its behavior will vary with terrain, but from mid-slope positions it is pushing west.
I asked him if Oak Creek Canyon was out of the woods, and while he mentioned the fire was moving west, as planned, he reminded me that with a Red Flag Warning in effect this weekend, conditions are expected to worsen. Over the next three days, strong winds are forecast, and as Fleishman noted, “it’s going to test us.”
Additionally, the fire is burning in areas that have not seen fire activity in roughly 100 years, which may contribute to unpredictable behavior and increased intensity.
We were on the phone today and I am a snail slow typist. It is a learning curve for me to understand the fire lingo so I had to call him back to make sure I understood this next part correctly. He was in Flagstaff with ash falling on his heads during the call.
Because of the high winds predicted they built a fire break( or another fire) 3 miles west of the Pocket Fire. They would not have gone so far normally but because of the high winds coming this weekend they are trying to get ahead of it. Thats why we are seeing multiple plumes of smoke, some from fire breaks that are created and the one that is furthest east, is the original fire.
When I sent Dick this photo I took at 3:50 pm today in West Sedona, which I am calling Beauty and The Beast, he responded with this: The smokes fingering down the west end(left side of the photo) is the burning operation fire backing down the hill. The heavier smoke down low on the mountain is the wildfire making its way west..
And so, we wait, and watch.