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For additional information and maps, please visit the Castle Fire InciWeb page at
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6439/.
Castle Fire Crews Begin Mop Up and Suppression Repair
The total size of the 19,368-acre Castle Fire, which has spread across the full extent of the pre-determined planning area established for it, has not changed in more than a week.
Fire crews made significant progress yesterday mopping up the wildfire's perimeter by locating and extinguishing interior hot spots. Management of the wildfire is expected to be returned to local resources as early as the end of this week.
Today, firefighters will continue to focus on patrolling and mopping up the fire's perimeter. They will also begin using heavy equipment to clear interior roads, rehabilitate and
repair suppression scars, and remove hazardous snags along roads. One area remains within the fire's perimeter on the north end that continues to produce significant smoke. Crews are monitoring this area closely, and smoke production is expected to diminish
as the fire consumes the heavy fuels that had built up there.
Fire managers are pleased that the Castle Fire is meeting the objective of functioning as a natural disturbance within the ecosystem as it reduces heavy accumulations of forest
fuels such as dead and down vegetation and encroaching, unhealthy stands of piñon-juniper.
Smoke from area fires is continuing to be visible from surrounding communities and is expected to settle in the valleys during early morning and late evenings.
For local air quality and related information, please visit the following websites:
www.airnow.gov or the
Smoke Management Division of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. Please visit
InciWeb for more information on the Castle Fire and other wildfires in the area.
The Castle Fire exists entirely within the pre-identified planning area in which the lightning-caused fire has been allowed to fulfill its natural role within a fire-dependent ecosystem. The fire has burned through a
majority of the 19,368-acre planning area, leaving a mosaic of islands of unburned fuels together with openings that will benefit wildlife and the forest ecosystem into the future. Some pockets of unburned vegetation remain within the wildfire’s interior that
may burn over the coming days. By allowing the wildfire to naturally burn through this area, the ecosystem will become healthier and more resilient.
A Closure Order remains in effect for the Castle Fire area:
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6439/
CASTLE FIRE OVERVIEW
Kaibab National Forest information is available through the following sources:
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Attachment:
1650-1_d3_CastleFire_2019_0821.pdf
Description: 1650-1_d3_CastleFire_2019_0821.pdf
