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FLAGSTAFF, AZ (AZFamily) — The Pocket Fire, which ignited in mid-June north of Sedona, is fully contained after burning more than 27,000 acres over two months.
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At one point, the fire prompted evacuation warnings for Kachina Village, a community just south of Flagstaff. Fire officials said years of prevention work in the area played a key role in stopping the fire’s advance.
Fire’s approach to communities
The fire was doubling in size daily at its peak and making a run toward Flagstaff, Mountainaire and Kachina Village.
The fire came within a couple of miles of private property north and east of those communities, according to True Brown, fire staff officer for the Coconino National Forest.
“We’re really just a couple miles away from private property out north and east,” Brown said. “I think that just demonstrates how close this fire was getting to communities.”
Mitigation work credited with slowing the fire
Brown said the area had been treated with prescribed burns and forest thinning for years. He said those measures helped firefighters stop the forward progress of the Pocket Fire.
“Fortunately, when the fire hit those previous fire treatments and then mechanical treatments, it laid down, and we were able to capitalize on those,” Brown said.
Flagstaff Fire Department’s role
The Flagstaff Fire Department also assists with fire prevention on the forest and in city neighborhoods. Mark Adams with the department said the efforts work together.
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“We love to see this prescribed work,” he said. “We love to see the treatment particularly southwest of town because that protects the entire town.”
Adams said local, state and federal firefighters plan to conduct more prescribed burns this fall. He said a few days of smoke from a controlled fire is preferable to weeks of uncontrolled wildfire.
“We understand that it’s not very comfortable to deal with that, but we just ask that people be patient and then consider the alternatives of three weeks of uncontrolled wildfire,” Adams said.
More thinning planned, including in the burn scar
Additional forest thinning is also planned, including within the Pocket Fire burn scar itself.
“It’s kind of a never-ending process, but it’s something that we’re always looking at and always trying to stay in front of,” Brown said.
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