The Wallow Fire.

[Alpinefly]

Over 200,000 acres burned & 0 containment so far. My most favorite fishing spot in all of Arizona, The East Fork Black River (above Deer Creek) totally destroyed. So many beautiful small streams, lakes, mountain forests, wildlife all destroyed. The Native Apache restoration down the drain. A wide variety of trout, and as to fly fishing, one of the best kept secrets when it came to Arizona. My thoughts and prayers are with all the residents in the white Mountains and the Apache Sitgreaves Forests. My wife, family, and I spent a lot of great times (especially in the Bear Wallow Wilderness). Fly fishing the smallstreams (especially the East Fork Black, Blue River, Nutrioso Creek, Hannagans Meadows, West Fork, Little Colorado; in the shadow of the sacred mountain (Mount Baldy) you would have to experience to understand. I wish my tears could put out the fire. I hope God's tears come soon !!!

[adam]

This is the area that smallstreams.com was born of...

Speechless.

[itchmesir]

sorry to hear about that...

[Alpinefly]

They will be closeing Mount Lemmon (my fast fix to Fly Fishing is 20 miles away in Rose Canyon), along with the rest of the National Forests here in Arizona indefinitely. It is a bitter pill to swallow. Since the Wallow fire was human caused, it is still under investigation. The fire is not slowing down (has approached 200,500 acres). As of yesterday evening, evacuation orders were given to Greer, and Sunrise. Diamond X Ranch is now in direct line to the fire. The high winds, hot weather, and dry lightening is adding to the problem of trying to fight this fire (still 0 contained). I hope to get up to Rose Canyon tomorrow for one last fly fishing trip before it closes Thursday. I am sitting at my vise right now tying flies, drinking beer, and very depressed. This Summer is pretty much screwed. As Adam said, this is where smallstreams was born. You have to experience fly fishing in the shadow of the sacred mountain (Mount Baldy) to understand what I, Adam, and the rest of us who fly fish and live in Arizona are feeling right now.

[adam]

Fire is such a devistating occurance, horrible but it is natural.

I'm just stunned, the first time up there will be tough, to check the damage, check where we will be able to burn memories or if they were burned for us.

[gusstrand]

Reminds me of the Biscuit Fire when we lived in Oregon. That one trapped us while camping on the coast. Had to drive a six hour detour to get home.

You guys might be interested in bookmarking the incident page if you haven't already. It's more info than most news sites/channels have: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2262/

[Alpinefly]

Greer is now officially burning. Wink (X Diamond Ranch) refuses to leave (last I heard). Eager has already been evacuated. Springerville is on standy-by. The fire is now 3 miles south of Springerville/Eager. Close to 400,000 acres burned and 0 contained at this point. It will continue to be hot and windy today (not good news for the fire fighters). I will be heading up this afternoon and evening to fish Rose Canyon (Mount Lemmon) since all National Forests as of noon tomorrow will be closed indefinitely.
Thank you Gus for posting the Wallow fire info link. This map is constantly updated.

[Alpinefly]

Now the largest fire in Arizona history, the Wallow Fire is not slowing down in its' destruction. This is a tremendous loss to all of us who have cherished the high mountain lakes and small streams in the Arizona White Mountains, along with the abundant wildlife and beautiful forests. I enjoyed my afternoon and evening of fly fishing in Rose Canyon (Mount Lemmon). It is bone dry up on the mountain, and I support the closeing of all of the National Forests lands here in Arizona. I pray the monsoons will come soon with plenty of rain (not soon enough for what has already been lost).

[Alpinefly]

At this point, the Wallow Fire has burned over 400,600 acres. It is hot and windy today which does not help the fire fighters. I wish the monsoon rains would come soon.

[adam]

http://www.azcentral.com/news/wildfi...e-timeline.php

That is the map I have been using to follow the progression.

Sending good vibes to the people fighting it and the people in the area.

...prayers for all.

This is a malor catastrophe.