ARIZONA NEWS
Wildfire burning a few miles north of Flagstaff forces evacuations, road closures
Jun 12, 2022, 12:34 PM | Updated: 5:41 pm
PHOENIX — A wildfire sparked six miles north of Flagstaff Sunday morning, prompting officials to issue evacuations and road closures for people in the area.
A ‘GO’ order for evacuation was issued for Schultz Pass Road, Arizona Snowbowl and Timberline South of Brandis.
Doney Park, Mt. Elden Lookout road and estates are now in ‘SET’ position and should begin preparing in the event an evacuation order is issued.
A shelter will be set up at the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise and Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort, according to the resort. A Red Cross Shelter will be set up at 4 p.m. at Sinagua Middle School.
The blaze, known as the Pipeline Fire, started sometime before 10:15 a.m. just west of Schultz Pass and burned about 1,000 acres by 2 p.m., while remaining active on all sides, according to InciWeb.
Current evacuation status map. There are currently two areas on SET status:
🟡 Doney Park
🟡 Mount Elden Lookout Road/Mount Elden Estatesand two areas on GO status:
🟢 Areas of Schultz Pass Road and Arizona Snowbowl
🟢 Timberline South of Brandishttps://t.co/KwbetpMJDi pic.twitter.com/qTathEFV6Z— Coconino County (@CoconinoCounty) June 12, 2022
Around 2:50 p.m., parts of the US 89 closed north of Flagstaff. The southside shut down at milepost 430, while the northside closed at milepost 427 with no estimated time for reopening.
Motorists were advised to seek alternate routes and to expect delays.
Authorities said there were approximately 150 personnel assigned to the blaze, including one Hotshot crew, three patrol units, six engines and one dozer.
Another Hotshot crew, four air tankers and one Type 3 helicopter have been ordered.
Smoke from the Pipeline fire is visible just north of the I-17/I-40 interchange in this visible loop from 1141 AM to 100 PM MST. #azwx #pipelinefire pic.twitter.com/WP75ec3D8E
— NWS Flagstaff (@NWSFlagstaff) June 12, 2022
An Incident Management Team was ordered and is expected to arrive to assess the fire within the next couple of days.
Arizona Snowbowl announced a temporary closure for Monday due to the evacuation orders issued and the Red Flag warning that is in effect.
No additional information was immediately available.
