Arizona Wallow Fire, June 9th

Wallow Fire Smoke in the Morning June 9, 2011

June 9th.

Another smoky morning for us on the edge of the Arizona Wallow Fire. Early mornings seem always to be socked in, but clear when the daily winds pick up. The good news for us on Eagle Creek is that the hotshot crews here think they have stopped the fire’s spread in our direction. We have our fingers crossed on that. The bad news is for our neighbors farther north. There have been 29 homes lost – most of them in Greer. It looks hopeful that Springerville and Eager will be ok. Here at the Double Circle we have no evacuation notice – and hopefully won’t get one. I would hate to leave my cattle to the mercy of a 386,690+ acre wildfire.

The winds are changing and are supposed to blow from the north. Hopefully sparks from the fire won’t blow here and start more fires. There is now 5% containment on the Wallow fire. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but it sure beats 0% containment. There are over 3000 people working to control the Wallow fire. We and our neighbors appreciate all the HARD work and risk they take to protect both towns and isolated ranches like ours. They are a tough breed of folks. Their work makes gathering cattle and ranching seem like an easy lifestyle. Thanks to everyone helping on Wallow fire!