{"id":2969,"date":"2026-07-02T20:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T20:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2969"},"modified":"2026-07-02T20:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T20:06:11","slug":"pocket-fire-scorches-over-20k-acres-near-sedona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2969","title":{"rendered":"Pocket Fire scorches over 20K acres near Sedona"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEDONA, AZ (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 The evacuation status for some areas of northern Arizona has been adjusted as crews work to contain the Pocket Fire.<\/p>

Read more Tucson Now: Tucson Fire Department shares accomplishments from 2025<\/a><\/p>

The wildfire burning north of Sedona, which nearly quadrupled in size over the weekend, has grown by thousands more acres. As of Thursday, July 2, the wildfire scorched 20,680 acres west of Oak Creek Canyon and is 21% contained.<\/p>

The Coconino County Sheriff\u2019s Office announced Wednesday afternoon that the areas of Kachina Village, Forest Highlands and Pine Del have been downgraded from SET status to READY status. The zones for those areas include 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98 and 99.<\/p>

Oak Creek Canyon remains under SET status.<\/p>

The Coconino County Sheriff\u2019s Office is pleased to announce the areas of Kachina Village, Forest Highlands, and Pine Del will be downgraded from \u201cSET\u201d (Pre-evacuation) to \u201cREADY\u201d status. The zones for these areas are 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98, and 99. While conditions have\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/aHIK7wEH5G<\/p>\u2014 Coconino County (@CoconinoCounty) July 1, 2026<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>

\u201cWhile conditions have improved to allow this adjustment, residents will continue to see smoke and fire activity for the foreseeable future,\u201d CCSO said in a social media post.<\/p>

A public meeting will be held in Sedona at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 2, at Red Rock Junior and Senior High School, located off of Highway 89A and Upper Red Rock Loop Road. Authorities and fire crews will inform the public about the latest Pocket Fire activity and answer questions. The meeting will also be livestreamed on Coconino National Forest Facebook page. <\/p>

Containment was established in some areas of the fire on Wednesday, but the fire remains active in the east and south. <\/p>

\u201cBecause of the complexity of the landscape, the fire remains dynamic and is far from over,\u201d fire officials said. <\/p>

Fire officials said on Tuesday that strong winds carried embers up to a mile ahead of the flames, so crews conducted burnouts to remove fuel in targeted areas. Burnouts are a tactic firefighters say can slow the fire\u2019s spread more quickly by using fuel, which would cause less damage to the landscape compared to dozers and hand tools.<\/p>

SR 89A remains closed to everyone but area residents. <\/p>

Almost a thousand people are fighting to contain the fire, but because of the dry vegetation, wind and steep terrain, it\u2019s been an uphill battle. <\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s challenging,\u201d said Dick Fleishman, who\u2019s with the U.S. Forest Service incident command team. \u201cIt\u2019s probably one of the most challenging fires that almost every fire manager on this fire said this one is complex, one of the most complex.\u201d<\/p>

Smoke and ash affect Flagstaff<\/h2>

The weekend Red Flag warnings not only helped to fuel the flames, but also pushed the smoke to other areas across the High Country. A High Pollution Advisory (HPA) was in effect for the Flagstaff area on Tuesday.<\/p>

Downtown Flagstaff was covered in a layer of smoke, and even ash Monday, after the Pocket Fire grew and winds pushed the smoke into town.<\/p>

Heather Chapman was visiting Flagstaff from the Valley to escape the heat. She was met with smoke and ash instead.<\/p>

\u201cSo we tried to do as much as we could,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cWe went out to dinner Saturday night, and that\u2019s when we saw the ash coming into our food and our drinks and all that.\u201d<\/p>

She said even with the smoke and high winds, they still had a good time, but it seemed emptier than usual.<\/p>

\u201cI feel like there\u2019s less people, maybe because it is so smoky, but everything is still open,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cThe weather is still absolutely beautiful.\u201d<\/p>

Downtown employees noticed a similar sentiment regarding tourism. Tyler Stickler is the owner of Grand Canyon Chocolate, which opened its Flagstaff storefront just seven months ago. <\/p>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

\u201cIt\u2019s those couple of people from Phoenix that wanted to get away from the heat, but then they hear \u2018there\u2019s smoke in the air, fire, Flagstaff is burning down,\u2019 all those scary things, and then they don\u2019t show up,\u201d he said.<\/p>

Stickler said tourism is the backbone of downtown businesses, so when smoke scares tourists away, it hurts everyone. <\/p>

\u201cIt does affect downtown, and I think just walking traffic, there\u2019s some people that say, \u2018I don\u2019t want to go walk around in the smoke,\u2019\u201d Stickler said.<\/p>

Michele Axlund is the director of Health and Human Services for Coconino County. She said vulnerable populations like the elderly, children or those who have an underlying condition should avoid the smoke as much as possible. <\/p>

\u201cIt gets into our lungs and straight to our bloodstream,\u201d Axlund said. \u201cSo this long-term effect of the smoke really is something we\u2019re asking the public to take notice of.\u201d<\/p>

Stickler wants people to know that Flagstaff is open, and you can avoid the smoke by coming into shops like theirs. <\/p>

Read more New autopsy of 1-year-old boy killed by police at Walmart deepens outrage<\/a><\/p>

\u201cIt makes a big difference for all of us little businesses down here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re happy to see every single person come in.\u201d<\/p>

Kachina Village residents pack belongings <\/h2>

Residents of Kachina Village spent Sunday packing valuables and preparing for a possible evacuation.<\/p>

Resident Lexi Wahl focused on sentimental items \u2014 baby clothes, her grandpa\u2019s camera, boxes of family photos \u2014 as she loaded belongings into a friend\u2019s pickup truck.<\/p>

\u201cMonetary value, in that sense, doesn\u2019t mean too much to me, but you leave one thing there and you\u2019ll never see it again,\u201d Wahl said.<\/p>

Another resident, Shira Itogawa, described a methodical strategy for packing.<\/p>

\u201cGet the essentials, if you have time get a little bit more than the essentials, if you have time get a little bit more than that,\u201d Itogawa said.<\/p>

Itogawa said she is familiar with wildfire loss. Her home burned in the 2003 Cedar Fire in San Diego. She said the current situation brought back memories.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of flashing back on memories, I know the orange sky pretty well,\u201d Itogawa said.<\/p>

Despite the threat, Itogawa said she was taking a cautious but measured approach.<\/p>

\u201cI don\u2019t expect us to actually burn, but I\u2019d rather have stuff out and not burn than have all of it lost again,\u201d she said.<\/p>

Coconino County Officials ask residents to sign up for the county\u2019s emergency notification system to receive the most up-to-date information on evacuation orders. Click here for more information.<\/p>