Crews continue to gain the upper hand on the 78,000-acre Rafael Fire and now report nearly 60% containment. Firefighters hope monsoon rain in the forecast will allow for more containment in the coming days. KNAU’s Ryan Heinsius reports.
Officials say overall fire activity has decreased with recent moisture though some unburned fuels in the fire’s interior have continued to produce smoke. Crews have largely shifted to patrol, mop-up and repair operations after aggressive firefighting and backburning over the last week. But with an uptick in the monsoon comes the possibility of new fire starts in the area.
"The potential for thunderstorms and lightning in the next couple days is definitely something that we are taking into consideration and doing everything we can to assist the local units with those initial attacks," says incident management team spokesperson Jessica Richardson.
A burned area emergency response team is currently assessing the severity of the wildfire. Officials observed high intensity burning in Sycamore Canyon, which could increase post-fire flooding in Clarkdale, Cottonwood and other areas to the south of the fire.
In the coming days, managers will continue to demobilize crews as firefighting winds down. All Go evacuation orders have now been lifted and officials have returned many communities near the fire to Ready status.
