I took this photo around 11 o’clock in the morning from the driving range at Forest Highlands in Flagstaff, Arizona on June 20, 2010. I was walking over to hit golf balls when I saw a very small plume of smoke. By the time I got my camera, it had grown to the white mushroom cloud depicted in this photo.
Eventually named the Schultz fire, it would ultimately burn over 15,000 acres in the Coconino National Forest. 748 homes were evacuated, plus fire officials closed an animal shelter, Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument to the public. At one time over 800 firefighters from Arizona and neighboring states were fighting the quick-spreading fire. The entire town of Flagstaff was filled with smoke for days on end due to the fire and the “backfires” used by the firefighters to stop the spread of the flames.
It took over nine days for the official announcement that the fire was under control and everyone was allowed back into their homes. It has since been determined that the fire was started by a careless camper who didn’t follow the rules of camping and fire prevention and left a still-smoldering fire.
All events have consequences. The Schultz fire burned almost the entire east facing slope of the San Francisco Peaks. And when the seasonal rains came, the run-off carved deep ravines into the hillside and dumped millions of gallons of water filled with mud and ash into populated neighborhoods that were located miles from the actual fire.
On the East side of Highway 89, the city and Forest Service worked together to build berms and have completed a mile long canal to divert run-off water from the bare hillsides. It’s anticipated that the berms and canal will alleviate any serious flooding in the future.
The west side of Highway 89 is a different story as the run-off this past year has been so strong that it has created deep ravines that will carry any floodwaters this coming rainy season at high speeds. The Forest Service has air-dropped mulch and grass seeds in an effort to regain the ability to absorb heavy rains. Just in case, though, evacuation plans are in place and residents are preparing as well as they can to make sure their homes are safe.
It’s amazing and sad to realize how much havoc one careless action can wreak on hundreds of innocent residents in this beautiful little town in Northern Arizona.
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