Pocket Fire grows to 11,000+ acres as winds complicate firefighting efforts

COCONINO COUNTY, Ariz. – Firefighters continue to battle the Pocket Fire, which is burning approximately seven miles north of Sedona.

Latest Update:

On Monday, June 29, officials stated the fire is at more than 11,000 acres. Some areas are in SET status where people are being asked to voluntarily evacuate, or at the very least, be ready to leave.

The areas that are also in set status are Kachina Village, Forest Highlands, Oak Creek Canyon, and Pine Del 99.

Officials are still looking into what caused the fire. However, they do know what caused it to expand.

Multiple spot fires north of Woody Mountain Road combined, expanding the fire 3,200 acres to the north. Due to the active fire behavior, Oak Creek Canyon, Kachina Village, Forest Highlands, and Pine Del Zone 99 remain in a set evacuation status, meaning residents must be prepared to leave immediately.

The fire remains at zero percent containment, and the cause is still unknown.

Local perspective:

High winds and intense summer heat are complicating firefighting efforts, but fire crews from across the country are working to achieve containment.

Fire crews are currently attacking the flames from both the ground and the air, and Dick Fleishman of the Southwest Area Incident Management Team detailed the scope of the response.

“They’re not just from Arizona,” Fleishman said. “We have people from all over the country. 917 personnel as of this morning.”

The fire is fueled by timber and brush, paired with a triple threat of summer weather.

“The wind actually accelerates it,” Fleishman said. “The heat obviously accelerates it. The other thing we have is low relative humidity, so that accelerates it. So we are in prime burning conditions for the Southwest and Arizona in general.”

The fire has been burning for over a week, producing a massive smoke cloud with visible dark columns of active burning in the distance. Tourists traveling to the picturesque area have noticed the heavy smoke blanketing Sedona.

“On the way driving up, you can see the smoke,” one tourist said.

“You turn the corner on the highway, and it was like woah.” Another tourist remarked, “I did see when we were looking on the map yesterday that it was a decent sized fire, so yeah, the smoke definitely looks that way.”

Dig deeper:

As the fire continues to grow north of Sedona, onlookers have also reported seeing the blaze at night.

“Last night, because it was dark outside, you could see the flames popping up,” a tourist noted.

Another traveler added, “We started seeing the fire as we were coming up the interstate, I guess it’s 17 and yeah we saw it growing in the distance as we got closer.”

What’s next:

Fleishman emphasized that the danger has not passed.

“It still is definitely a threat,” Fleishman said. “Oak Creek canyon, still definitely a threat. We’re not anywhere out of the woods here and it’s gonna be a while.”

The incident management team also held a virtual meeting on Monday at 7:00 p.m. to update the public.

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