firefighters

A board member says Chief Dennis Hoke failed to accept direction on various issues and personnel matters. Hoke, however, said multiple board members retaliated against him over personal differences.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has upgraded how it classifies the risks associated with firefighting. The group recently released a report based on studies led by the University of Arizona Health Sciences and the Tucson Fire Department that lists the occupation as carcinogenic.

The Biden administration has signed off on a temporary pay increase for wildland firefighters throughout the U.S. It comes amid a national labor shortage of fire personnel and the growing threat of climate change-fueled wildfires.

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.

At a community meeting Saturday afternoon in Flagstaff, residents demanded answers from forest managers about why the Tunnel Fire wasn’t suppressed completely last Sunday when it was first called in and why the fire wasn’t monitored overnight, especially with strong winds in the forecast. The Coconino County Sheriff was hopeful evacuees could return home Sunday.

The Crooks Fire burning south of Prescott is now 5% and has burned about 2,800 acres so far. Calmer winds are in the weekend forecast, hopefully creating safer conditions for firefighters.

Snow and rain showers Friday morning helped douse dry grasses and kept them from igniting more easily, but precipitation levels weren’t high enough to impact extreme hotspots on the Tunnel Fire. Forest managers say it is now 21,000 acres and 3% contained.

Fire managers in Yavapai County say the Crooks Fire burning south of Prescott experienced minimal growth Thursday, though the fire remained active. Existing evacuations remain in place.

In a statement Thursday night, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said deputies have conducted preliminary evaluations of the burn area. Current evacuation orders remain in place until further notice. County officials have deemed it unsafe to allow residents back into the evacuated area at this time.

A Wyoming smokejumper has died of injuries suffered last month while fighting a wildfire in New Mexico. The U.S. Forest Service says Tim Hart of Cody…