crooks fire

A public safety closure area established during the Crooks Fire has been reduced as fire crews get closer to full containment of the blaze burning in the Bradshaw Mountains. Officials with the Prescott National Forest assumed command of the fire Tuesday night from a Type 1 Incident Management Team.

Watson Lake in Prescott reopened today after being closed to the public due to the Crooks Fire. The City of Prescott Recreation Services Department says recreational access was effective as of 6:00 a.m. Friday, May 13, 2022.,

All remaining evacuation orders will be lifted Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. for the Crooks Fire burning south of Prescott in the Bradshaw Mountains.

Nearly all evacuation orders have been lifted for the Crooks Fire burning in the Bradshaw Mountains south of Prescott. An Emergency Response Team has completed a Soil Burn Severity Map for the Tunnel Fire. Crews are conducting mop up operations on the Antelope Fire north of Sunset Crater near Flagstaff.

The Crooks Fire burning near Prescott is now 83% contained at just over 9,400 acres. Many evacuations have been lifted. Tunnel Fire is close to full containment.

Despite critical fire weather this weekend and winds in excess of 50 mph, firefighters gained more containment of wildfires burning in northern Arizona.

U.S. Forest Service officials say they’ll implement stage 1 fire restrictions beginning Thu, May 5 across the entire Coconino National Forest as well as the southern portion of the Kaibab National Forest and the City of Flagstaff.

The Crooks Fire burning south of Prescott is now 29% contained after burning more than 9,100 acres so far. Current evacuations remain in place. Smoke is expected to impact surrounding areas Friday and through the weekend.

A community meeting will be held Thursday evening at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott at 6 p.m. and can also be streamed at the Prescott National Forest’s Facebook page.

Officials on the Prescott National Forest have expanded the closure area put in place because of the Crooks Fire burning in the Bradshaw Mountains and will also implement stage 1 fire restrictions next week.