The raindrops that fell in West Sedona yesterday afternoon brought a complex set of feelings. Hope, for one—along with sadness after much too short of a rainfall—and concern for what may be coming with the Pocket Fire in the next days and the arrival of fire season. Will this just be the start?
I was recovering yesterday and literally hiding inside after a 5-hour sojourn in the blazing Arizona heat on Monday. I knew better (my English friend Pippa reminded me), but I did it anyway. I usually have my long sleeves and hat and only hike early morning, but other things got in the way. I got delayed, met up and hiked with a friend who is amazingly not impacted by the sun, and ended up after that at the creek swimming and hiking in a bathing suit.
Well, I paid the price: heat exhaustion, nausea, fatigue, headache, insomnia, and the inability to even poke my head outside the door for 36 hours. So consider this your public warning—don’t be dumb like me.
Luckily, our bodies are amazing machines that recover, and after a day and a half and a finally good sleep I was pretty much back to normal. Though now I’m looking at long, lightweight pants to add to my gear repertoire.
First thing this morning I smelled smoke. Did you smell it too?
And while I'm typing this at 4.30 pm Wednesday afternoon, the swamp cooler was just blowing smoke in the house.
I think by this point all of us obsessive fire watchers know the basics—Coconino Forest Facebook page, Watch Duty, InciWeb, and Sedona Fire Facebook page. Here at the Bobcat we’ll figure you are getting that info and just cover some things we think maybe you haven’t heard, or that we are thinking about. Although, I will add a screen shot at the bottom of this article of todays operation as posted online.
Let’s do a Question and Answer today.
Q: Did the rain make a difference?
A: Actually, it did. According to Dick Fleishman, media liaison, it brings needed humidity to the brush and grasses, which does help. Conditions were better this morning than the day before. It moderated the fire behavior. The moisture in grasses is a good thing—you don’t get as many spot fires.
Q: I heard there was an injury. What happened?
A: According to Dick, it was a green category injury from a chainsaw, which is the lowest in their system. More serious injuries would be yellow, then red. An injury to a person not working on the fire has its own category—purple.
Q: Why don’t the fire drops put out the fire?
A: There isn’t enough water. The drops help firefighters be safer and set their lines, but can’t ultimately put out the fire.
Q: Is a complete Forest Service closure being considered?
A: Dick didn’t know, but I’ve been around a while and can see the writing on the wall. Unless, of course, we get a lot of rain—but I think we need to know it’s a possibility.
Q: I want to feed a firefighter—can I bring homemade cookies?
A: No. Dick says they have a catering operation that makes sure firefighters get about 7,000 calories per day. If I brought my special chocolate chip cookies, they couldn’t take them. If people want to donate, he suggests the Red Cross.
One thing that is making me uneasy today is that Oak Creek Canyon is back to “Set” and residents are allowed in. I used to live there and know I wouldn’t want to leave my home either, but thoughts of the Paradise Fire and the Lahaina Fire—and how fast fires can spread—have me concerned. I don’t know enough about fires to say whether these kinds of conditions could happen here. But with winds predicted to increase, and with Oak Creek Canyon already so close to the fire, it’s hard not to feel uneasy.
I look at the map and it’s very, very close.
