Started some time this afternoon.  Garden Canyon on Ft. Huachuca is closed while they conduct fire operations.  Slurry is being dropped and the Forest Service has named this the Brown Fire.  It's just west of Brown Canyon and appears to have grown in size over the past two hours with the current high winds.  Prayers to all up there fighting it and hopefully they can get ahead of it this evening when the wind calms down.

Reports that it's in Brown and Sawmill canyons moving southeast.  Fort Huachcua FD, the Forest Service, and Willcox Fire are on scene.  2x tankers conducting drops.


ETA:

Incident Overview


The Brown Fire is burning in Garden Canyon on the north side of the Huachuca Mountains on the Sierra Vista Ranger District Coronado National Forest. It is human-caused under investigation and burning in a remote location. The current size is approximately 25 acres with 0% containment. The fire is burning at the upper elevations in brush and timber. No structures are threatened at this time.

The fire was reported April 13 2014. Two air tankers dropping fire retardant and two helicopters dropping water were utilized to restrict the spread of the fire. Wind was a factor in the effectiveness of yesterday's air operations.

Resouces assigned include one hotshot crew one Type 2 hand crew and one short crew for a total of 50 firefighters; three helicopters (one small medium and one large/skycrane); two air tankers (one large/P2V one very large/DC-10) miscellaneous fire engines (crews supporting suppression efforts) and miscellaneous overhead.

Helicopters are shuttling firefighters to the fire then will resume bucket drops.

Strategy is to stop and hold fire at ridgelines and burn out downward to restrict fire spread.

Air tankers will drop fire retardant to support firefighters cutting fireline.

Those of us who were here during the Monument fire get a sinking feeling in our gut when a fire hit exactly where it is now and high winds are coming.  I'm advising my friends who live anywhere near Hunter Canyon north to PDS to get ready to either fight a fire or get out. Not yet, but a Go bag is common sense.

Agreed!


April 14 2014 3pm update -

The Brown Fire is burning in Garden Canyon on the north side of the Huachuca Mountains on the Sierra Vista Ranger District Coronado National Forest. It is human-caused under investigation and burning in a remote location. The current size is approximately 96 acres with 0% containment. The fire is burning at the upper elevations in brush and timber. No structures are threatened at this time.

Resouces assigned include:

1 hotshot crew on scene (4 additional hotshot crews enroute)

Coronado NF crew 5 short crew

2 Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs)

2 P2V air tankers

1 Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT)

3 Type 2 and 3 helicopters ( one Type 1 helicopter enroute)

miscellaneous fire engines (crews supporting suppression efforts)

miscellaneous overhead

Division Supervisors and Crew Supervisors are assessing the fire to determine a strategy.


Basic Information



Incident Type

Wildfire



Cause

Human Caused, Under Investigation



Date of Origin

Sunday April 13th, 2014 approx. 12:00 AM


Current Situation



Size

96 acres



Fuels Involved


The fire is burning at the upper elevations in brush and timber.



Significant Events


The fire was reported April 13 2014. Two air tankers dropping fire retardant and two helicopters dropping water were utilized to restrict the spread of the fire. Wind was a factor in the effectiveness of yesterday's air operations.


Outlook



Growth Potential


moderate

Went from 96 to over 300 acres now in under 3 hours.  A Type I Incident Management Team is en route and if they don't get a hold of this thing by Wed (high winds expected) then it's going to get ugly......

http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3834/

Most current fire size updates:

http://wlfhotlist.com/threads/39733-AZ-CNF-Brown

We are on standby (CCSO) for possible evacuation/pre-evac for Ramsey and Brown Canyons. Right now the winds are cooperaring and keeping it over the ridgeline, but if it shifts...it could get nutty, quick. Cranking my cell phone ringer up and gonna try and get some sleep while I can.

I'm going to fill the tanks of both SUV's and pre-load the 4WD Explorer.  I can always unload it.

Wednesday will be the day that's worrying me.  Wind speeds were relatively low today (even at 6-7k feet) and the fire grew fairly quickly in a short period of time.  I believe that if they don't get a handle on it by tomorrow evening then Wednesday is going to prove concerning at the least.  Today was forgiving because the prevailing winds shifted at about noon (when the big flare up occurred) and changed from a northwest to southeast flow to a east to west flow.  That seemed to stop most all southern and eastern fire growth and allowed them to hold the fire at the ridges.  If the wind direction resumes normal patterns for this time of the year and it really picks up it's gonna come barreling down Brown canyon.  Right now I just say pray that the wind stays calm and the hotshot crews are on their game.

As a side note...if anyone west of HWY 92 needs any assistance if an evac order becomes a reality, I have a truck and I'm 3 mins away.  I have a large garage too if anyone would need to store stuff and extra space in the house if worst comes to worst.

CMS

Latest is 336 acres....

Incident Overview


April 14 2014 - 9 pm update

Overview: The Brown Fire started on U.S. Army Fort Huachuca on April 13 and burned onto the Coronado National Forest at approximately 11am on April 14.

Size: approximately 366 acres

Containment: 0%

Growth Potential: moderate

Fire Behavior: Active fire. Short runs. Isolated torching with short range spotting.

Threats: No structures are threatened at this time.

Objective: Full Suppression; Limit the fire's spread

Monday's Activity:

Airtankers have been dropping retardant and helicopters have been dropping buckets of water on the fire to try to minimze the fire's spread.

Division Supervisors and Crew Supervisors continue to asses the fire to determine the best strategy.

Plans for Tuesday:

Scouting handline construction contingencies utilizing aviation for crew shuttles and continued use of helicopters and air tankers to drop water and retardant.

Clay Templin's Type 1 Southwest Incident Management Team has been ordered. Transfer of command will occur Wednesday at 6pm.

Resources: Approximately 160 personnel are assigned including:

2 hotshot crews on scene - Ironwood IHC & Silver City IHC (3 additional hotshot crews enroute)

Coronado NF crew 5 short crew

2 Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs)

2 P2V air tankers

1 Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT)

1 Type 3 helicopter

1 Type 2 helicopter

(1 one Type 1 helicopter enroute)

miscellaneous fire engines (crews supporting suppression efforts)

miscellaneous overhead

Fuels: The fire is burning at the upper elevations in brush and timber.

Terrain: steep rugged inaccessible terrain.

Weather: A Fire Weather Watch is predicted on Wednesday. Low humidity and high winds combined with drought conditions will result in unfavorable conditions.

Basic Information
Incident TypeWildfire
CauseHuman Caused, Under Investigation
Date of OriginSunday April 13th, 2014 approx. 04:30 AM
Location5 miles SW of Sierra Vista
Incident CommanderJason Mcclain Ict3
Current Situation
Total Personnel160
Size336 acres
Fuels Involved

The fire is burning at the upper elevations in brush and timber.
Fire Behavior

Active fire. Short runs. Isolated torching with short range spotting.
Significant Events

Clay Templin's Type 1 Southwest Incident Management Team has been ordered. Transfer of command will occur Wednesday at 6pm.
Outlook
Planned Actions

Plans for Tuesday include scouting handline construction, contingencies, utilizing aviation for crew shuttles, and continued use of helicopters and air tankers to drop water and retardant.
Growth Potential

moderate
Terrain Difficulty

steep, rugged terrain with difficult access
Remarks

A Fire Weather Watch is predicted on Wednesday. Low humidity and high winds, combined with drought conditions will result in unfavorable conditions.

It's going to be a rough fire season this year - thoughts and prayers to those in the area.

I just hope there are enough resources to keep damage minimal this year. Those in fire prone / remote areas should seriously consider keeping go-bags and vehicles ready to bug out all season.

Based off of the info below....if you or anyone else needs some assistance doing some clear cutting tomorrow in preparation for the possibility of the fire moving east and/or south, please let me know.  I can leave work at around lunch and have hand tools, a good Husqvarna weed eater, a quad with a hitch ball (no trailer though), and good work ethic.  I'm also a sucker for helping my neighbors...especially in a time of need so please feel free to get ahold of me (that offer is out there for anyone...especially in what will most likely be the pre-evac area which will be notified tomorrow morning.  As a side note....I don't want to sound like an alarmist.  I just know quiet a few people who did or almost lost their homes during the Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado Springs.  Nobody thought that fire would ever go that far and it did.  Nobody thought the Monument fire would get as bad as it did either.  Prep your properties and your homes if you're anywhere near this and prepare for the absolute worst.


From the desk of Pat Call .....

A quick update ... I just returned from a fire briefing on Fort Huachuca where the Brown fire Incident Command is set up. The fire has grown to approximately 293 acres this evening and will officially be designated a Type 1 firetomorrow at 4pm. That is the highest fire designation. A Type 1 fire means a national fire fighting team will take over management of the fire from the local Forest Service fire fighters, which are a Type 3 response level team. Approximately 500 people will be arriving to fight the fire by Wednesday along with other assets, including air support. A dozen or so Hot Shot crews are either on site or will be arriving within a day or so along with a lot of other fire fighters. Seven mid-size helicopters, one light helicopter, two air tankers, one VLT (very large tanker) and one sky crane helicopter are on site or will be shortly. Additionally, more helicopters are on 'order' as well as an additional sky crane helicopter.

The big picture ... the area where the fire is located has been considered 'the worst case scenario' by the local fire teams for many years because it is an area that has never burned, it is hard to get to and the terrain is steep and rugged. As an example, the closest safe area for helicopters to land and put fire crews on the ground is a 30 to 60 minute hike to the fire area. The concern is the fire coming over the ridges at the top of Ramsey and Brown and threatening areas where there are structures. The good news ... as of right now, the fire is confined to a "bowl" in the mountains. The winds have been from the east/southeast today and are projected to remain that way tomorrow. This means the winds are blowing the fire back over the ridges - away from Ramsey and Brown Canyons. If you can see the smoke from the fire, you should be able to see that the column of smoke is moving towards the west - that's good. The word from the Type 3 team is that we are in a much better spot now than we were with the Monument fire.

Pre-evacuation plans are being put in place and information regarding these plans will be available early tomorrow morning from several sources, including my emails. I don't know the specifics of the evacuation areas yet ... but it seems obvious that people living in upper Ramsey Canyon and those living along Ramsey Canyon Road, both to the south and north (to Yaqui), should be giving some thought to structure fire prevention. This includes Indiada and the Antelope Run area. Again, we will have specifics tomorrow. Lastly, the Forest Service has indicated that the fire is human-caused and is investigating.

I'm living in town now - so not too worried about getting evacuated myself. I'm a volunteer with CCSO SAR. The sheriff is encouraging people to add @cc_sheriff on twitter as an alternate source of information. No order to start pre-evacs yet, but we are still on standby.

Lookin good so far today boys!  Keep'er up before the winds find their way here tomorrow and Thursday!

Be advised:



Per CCSO Facebook post:

Just saw this...and the wind really picked up in the past 20 mins.  I'm watching the north end of the fire out the window of my office.  It crested the ridge and has started down the hill towards Garden Canyon Creek.  It's up in the canopy and with binos I can see entire trees burning.  It's not just a ground fire that's for sure.

At the Forest Service meeting now. Ill post any updates when its finished.

Appreciate it. Haven't gotten many updates through SAR channels throughout the day.



 

Well there's some good news.  One...they GPS mapped the fire and it's currently only 225-235 acres...not the original 336 acres that was projected.  They have a slurry line surrounding the fire and have been refreshing it all day.  The tanker base on post is up and running at the airfield.  The Sheriffs office is prepared to initiate evacuations if needed.  Based on a lot of what the other agencies said they've learned A LOT from the Monument Fire and have made contingencies for issues they faced during that fire.  The big question is the weather tomorrow.  If the wind gets bad and it jumps the ridge then it's going to be a lot harder to contain due to its proximity to the top of Ramsey, Brown, and Garden canyons.  The canyons funnel the prevailing winds to the east and are favorable to rapid fire spread.  

They also have a "person of interest" and are searching for the point of origin of the fire but no arrests have been made.  Its origin was on Fort Huachuca.  

If you have any questions ask away and I'll see if I can remember anything.

Great news for the time being. Are you located in one of the threatened areas?

Borderline.  Didn't get an evac warning but we're close.

I like the way you think.

Hope all is well for everyone down there - let us know if you need anything.

Here's a picture my brother sent me from the fire yesterday, looks like some rough country....

You guys stay safe down there!

Thanks for the pic!  Yes it is rough country.  I've hiked Miller and Carr peaks, from Miller Canyon, Montezuma Pass, and Carr Canyons.  It's steep, rugged county.  I haven't hiked the Sheelite Canyon trail, which passes through the current fire area, but I'd imagine it's very similar and steep terrain.  Those guys are getting a workout that's for sure.  From what I read, even from the HLZ they're still hiking 30-60 minutes just to get to the fire line.  Not a square inch of flat, clear terrain anywhere near it.

Sheelite is ROUGH. We used to do UDI/Narc interdiction up there.



24 Hour fire forecast calls for possible incursions into Ramsey and Brown canyons. We are still at halfcock as far as SAR operations go. (I have 48 hours of sustainment in my vehicle in case of a mission/callout in support of the fire.) If anyone is in the effected areas, let me know. I don't have much in the way of vehicle assistance, but I can provide a little lifting help.



 

Fort spokesman stated on channel 13 that they will begin pre-evac notices for all non-essential personnel for Fort Huachuca tomorrow.



If y'all do get evacced, I have a couch and can make some space for more if needed.  

I have 2 SUV's, I can only drive one.

Where are you located? Worst case I can have my wife drop me off and we can get your other one to safety if required.



 

It's looking pretty good up there.  Unless these storms we're expecting bring dry lightening, I'd expect it to be wrapping up by next week.  In other news...the FBI has initiated an investigation into the fire in addition to the Forest Service.  Last night at the meeting (broadcasted on Channel 12 locally) a lady asked how she could find out information on the "person of interest" and the reply shed some light on the situation.  She was told she can file a FOIA request, and when she asked with what organization they told her Border Patrol.  Reading into that, sounds like it may have been an illegal that they rolled up shortly after the fire began.  Just speculation on my part and reading into their response, but there did seem to be some hesitation after she was told this...almost as if it was an "oh shit...should I have said that" moment.  Guess we'll see in the upcoming weeks.

That's great news, thanks for the update.
As for the origin, and the person of interest.....sigh. Wasn't the Monument Fire also started by an illegal? But this one started on post. Illegals on a military intelligence post? I know it's nothing new, but it does boggle the mind.
Glad to hear thing are looking up, no loss of life or structures lost. That's some beautiful country down there, I spend as much time as I can in the 'chucas.

I caught just over 800 illegals and 300 pounds of dope on Fort Huachuca between Dec 2007 and January 2010 while assigned to the Customs Section doing interdiction patrols.



 

As I stated, I know it's nothing new, but just....wow.  

Tell me about it. We were woefully undermanned and under-equipped until the CG had an illegal knock on his front door on General's Row and ask for water and to use his phone.





The Provost Marshal doesn't give a fuck about perimeter security. He stated, and I quote: "I don't give a fuck. As far as I'm concerned, you can tell them 'Welcome to America!'". He stated that when we were expressing concern about him reducing our manpower and patrols and raising concerns about the perimeter security measures.
 

The new PM is a female. I've spoken with her regarding NFA regulations in the Fort Huachuca reg since it specifically states MG's, SBR's, SBS's, etc are legal with proper registration in the NFA registry, but states the silincers/suppressors are illegal.  She seems down to earth and said she'll recommend the change during the next review of the regulation.  That said, can't speak on her stance of perimeter security...but anyone who's been on the back side of post knows it would be nearly impossible to prevent illegals from passing through post.  I had one walk into one of my barracks and ask my CQ for water.  Duty NCO called the MP's and gave him some water.  A spanish speaking Soldier spoke with him and he was from Nicaragua.  He had crossed the border 3 days prior and got separated from his group.  He was out of food and water so started walking towards the lights.  No clue how he made it throught the housing area all the way to our barracks but he managed.

On a side note, out of pure curiousity I filed a FOIA request asking if any undocumented immigrants were apprehended in the vicinity of the Brown Fire on or about the time it started.  We'll see.  My guess it if there was, this part of the county is going to start raising hell about security in this area after what will be two fires (assuming the Brown fire was started by an illegal).  I know quite a few BP guys and I know they do their best at a very difficult job, but in the end it comes down to manpower.  While they're still increasing their numbers down here, it sounds like they need help getting more agents faster.

Agreed! Wasn't aware the prior PM had moved on.



And that is it - we need a sensor system on the perimeter and increased manpower. It was 20 people (6 MPs and the rest border patrol) with about 10 on shift any given night.



Border patrol needs more everything. The Sheriff has his border unit stood up, but I can't speak to their effectiveness.



 

Speaking of the backside of the range, I found a Portuguese to English dictionary in upper Scotia Canyon a few years back, Brazilians?
Had three males try to surrender to me on FR 61 near Copper Canyon last summer. I notified BP when I got up to Montezuma Pass. Had to wonder why they would be giving up when they were only 2-3 miles into the US at that point. Medical issues, or abandoned days earlier?

double tap

Well from what I've been told, if a group has been going for a few days and the coyote gets jumpy or doesn't think his cargo is going to be able to walk much further, he'll tell them that the lights of Sierra Vista/Fort Huachuca are Tucson (and in come cases Phoenix) just to ditch the group.   I think some of them just don't realize the distances involved either.  I've actually had very few interactions with illegals the entire time I've lived here.  Other than the one at the barracks, I came across a man and two young boys I assume were his sons, walking along Lyle Canyon road just north of Parker Canyon lake with their thumbs out.  We were on dual sport bikes....  Either way....the BP picked them up shortly after.  

Arabic/English dictionaries have also been found out in the desert in this area....which makes you wonder sometimes...

They told one group Vegas.



When we corrected the individual (800KM thataway), the entire group stopped dead in their tracks, and looked at one dude.



Got ya fucker. (Always loved snagging the coyotes.)



 

Not sure if it's related to the Brown fire....but this was just put out on one of the info pages recently...

There is a 'firebug' that has become active in the greater Sierra Vista community as of yesterday. Four fires have been intentionally started in the following locations within a short time span last night:
9:44 pm - 3800 Sparrow Drive in Sierra Vista
9:55 pm - corner of Wilcox and Lenzner Ave
10:09 pm - vacant field across from Joyce Clark Middle School
Midnight - Ramsey Canyon and Brown Canyon parking area (trailhead)
That is all the information that is currently available. This is a serious concern. If you see any suspicious behavior, don't hesitate to call 911 immediately.

Gotta start carrying more again.



Had a helo circling my house/neighborhood behind the hospital for about 30 minutes last night searching with a spotlight. Blinded me a couple of times. I wonder if it was related - it was about 9-10pm.





 

J S, I'll PM you.  CMS, who is the DPTMS.  2Feathers and Sam Spade are willing to give the free classes to military again but I don't want to deal with any more non-combatants who can't understand why you move when you shoot.

Another pic for you guys...
That's the VLT

Pretty cool.. I bet that was a heck of a sight standing on a mountain and watching a DC-10 make drops below eye level.........

I've hunted Huachuca for years. My son and I were out in the mountains deer hunting and heard a group of people coming speaking Spanish. We dropped our required orange and got down in the grass.  They passed by - maybe a group of 15 -20. After they went by we went back to my truck to leave and call it in since we had no cell reception where we were. We get to the truck and we have a flat tire. Son pulled security while I changed the tire. Got to cell connection and called the MP's.with GPS coordinates, etc. Crazy encounter on a US military post...
The things we've found out in the hills....

With the rain I'd venture to say we're out of the woods for now.  Mother nature is looking after us this week.  It's till unbelievably dry out even with the bit of rain we got so hopefully they nab this arsonist before they actually get something dry burning.