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Mescal Fire Update, June 8, 2021

Organization:

Bureau of Land Management

BLM Office:

Gila District Office

Media Contact:

Southwest Area Incident Management Team
602-428-5397

Acres: 66,913 acres  
Cause: Under Investigation
Containment: 23% 
Total personnel: 659 
Start Date: Monday, June 1, 2021 
Location: 12 mi SE of Globe, AZ; 7 mi NE of Dripping Springs, AZ 
Fuels: Desert Brush, Oak, and grass 

San Carlos Residents Can Return Home, on “SET” Status

Ko’ Ba Nagoni i’ 

Announcement:  The community of East El Capitan (East of Highway 77) remains in "GO" status. All San Carlos residents may return home as of 7:00AM Tuesday, June 8, 2021. This includes San Carlos High School Area, all residents along Route 3, Coyote Flats, and Soda Canyon. These communities will return to “SET” status. West El Capitan (West of Highway 77), T 11 Ranch and Beverly Hills are also in "SET" status. Highway 70 remains closed. Highway 77 is temporarily open southbound only for evacuation purposes. An area closure remains in effect for portions of the fire area on federal lands. 

Overview: While the remote and rugged location of the fire continues to cause challenges to supporting firefighting operations, crews made significant progress across the incident area. Firefighters have been successful in reducing the fire threat to important infrastructure, resources and communities, including San Carlos, Highway 70 and the 700 road. Fire potential continues to exist. 

Fire Update: The Mescal Fire continues to experience active fire behavior. Aerial operations, including water drops and aerial ignitions assisted crews in closing the gap between containment lines along the 700 Road and unburned fuels within the fire’s interior. Today, crews will continue to patrol along Highway 70 to keep fire from crossing the highway.  Crews expect to see fire behavior change from being driving by winds, to moving based on terrain and fuels. 

Weather: The continued pattern of hot and dry conditions will persist and aid in fire spread through unburned interior pockets of fuel. Maximum temperatures will reach 90 to 93 degrees. Minimum relative humidity values will be 6 to 9 percent. Winds will be terrain driven to south-southeast at 3 to 8 mph through mid-morning, becoming southwest at 6 to 11 mph by late morning and then increasing to 11 to 16 mph in the afternoon.

Evacuation Status Ready, Set, Go:
The following communities are in “GO” status and evacuation orders have been issued:

  • Residents of El Capitan living on the east side of State Route 77

The following communities remain in “SET” and should get prepared and alert for updates:

  • San Carlos High School Area (Coyote Flats)
  • Soda Canyon
  • Lower Peridot
  • Skill Center
  • Peridot South
  • T11 Ranch
  • Beverly Hills
  • El Capitan west of State Route 77

Highway Closures: The Arizona Department of Transportation has re-opened State Route 77 from 8 am to 8 pm for south-bound traffic only, between Globe and Winkelman. US Highway 70, remains open to light traffic (no semis), which is being rerouted around the fire area.

Smoke: Moderate to heavy smoke is occurring this morning primarily from the Telegraph Fire. Lesser smoke is being observed from the Mescal Fire, with most ground level smoke lifting between 9:00-10:00 AM. As fire activity increases, moderate to heavy smoke will push northeast from the Telegraph Fire.  

Highway Safety Message: Smoke from the Telegraph fire will impact the US 60 corridor from Miami to Globe, especially this afternoon when winds may push smoke more east-northeast compared to past days. Light to at times moderate smoke will be possible along SR70 from Globe to Peridot. It will not be nearly as bad as past days, due to a decrease in fire activity. Moderate to heavy smoke impacts are expected as smoke settles into the US 60 corridor between Superior and Globe, with lighter impacts in San Carlos and Peridot tonight into Wednesday. The Daily Smoke Outlook can be found at: https://fires.airfire.org/outlooks/EasternArizona

Values: Firefighter and public safety are the highest priorities on these fires. Firefighters are also working to protect the communities of San Carlos, Peridot, El Capitan, Drippings Springs, Soda Canyon, Skill Center and Beverly Hills; Mescal and T11 ranches, the powerline supplying San Carlos and Peridot, as well as historic and cultural sites within the fire area.

More Information:

Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7507/
Mescal Fire Information Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mescal-Fire-Information-101095532201192 
Highway Closure Information: https://az511.gov/
Evacuation Information:

Ready, Set, Go: https://ein.az.gov/ready-set-go 
Smoke Report: https://fires.airfire.org/outlooks/EasternArizona 
San Carlos Apache Forest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SCATFORESTRY
BLM-Arizona Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BLMArizona 

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.