Slide Fire Out, But Worst Isn't Over
Last month firefighters worked for several days in steep, rugged terrain to keep a wind-driven inferno from reaching people and homes in Arizona’s Oak Creek Canyon. And they were successful. The Slide Fire is out.
But the worst isn’t over yet. Now the community is preparing for the threat of monsoons and the mudslides they’re likely to bring.
On the afternoon of May 20 a guest staying at Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge alerted the owner of smoke just south of the property. Within minutes Gary Garland and his wife had evacuated all of the guests and employees.
Garland, a former volunteer firefighter, stayed to show the crews where to hook up to the irrigation system on his property. He said he does not recommend residents without firefighting experience stay when authorities have issued evacuation orders.
“This fire started when the winds were blowing 40-50 miles per hour directly at us,” Garland said. “It was pretty much an inferno and I’ve never seen anything like that, and it was all due to the winds.”
Garland said red flag warnings should not be taken lightly. He recently showed the edge of his property where the fire charred the oaks and Ponderosa pines, which now look like black toothpicks.
Garland’s family has lived in Oak Creek Canyon since the 1800s. Their lodge and cabins are a historic institution. Lavish gardens and an orchard along the creek make this place an oasis in the Arizona desert.
And it still is, thanks to the firefighters’ quick response and Garland’s proactive groundwork.
“This is an area we took out all the brush and everything and the brush goes up to a bluff a rock bluff,” Garland said. “If you look on the left almost every tree is burned, if you look on the right you still have green trees.”
For years Garland had cleared the blackberry bushes and other brush surrounding his property that would have quickly turned into kindling.
Now Garland and his employees are working hard to prepare for mudslides.
“Any significant storm is going to bring debris, ash, silt down the canyon,” said Taylor Swain, manager of the lodge. “We’ve been proactive. We’ve started to dig some trenches and divert drainages away from our structures on property.”
A month after the fire burned 21,227 acres in Oak Creek Canyon, the emergency response team spoke to residents about prepping for the rainy season.
Soil scientist Rory Steinke said the task force is digging drainage ditches and seeding the area above the watershed with fast-sprouting vegetation that can hold the land in place.
“For us timing is critical,” Steinke said. “We have a race against the clock. Our objective is to reduce risk of flooding debris flows, the race against the clock is to beat that monsoon.”
National Weather Service Meteorologist Brian Klimowski said all it takes is a half inch of rain to loosen the land. He said last year there were nine storms that produced a half inch of rain in Oak Creek Canyon.
“Understand that this type of flooding happens very, very quickly,” Klimowski said. “You will have only minutes to respond once the flash flood warning is issued. Understand you have to take action now. You don’t have time to think.”
In 2010, Klimowski witnessed the devastating mudslides after the Schultz Fire in Flagstaff. Ash, mud and debris plowed through people’s living rooms at the base of the San Francisco Peaks.
The biggest challenge will be warning residents and visitors. Cell service is spotty or non- existent. There are several sirens up and down the canyon, but at Garland’s Lodge the employees say they’ve never heard them.
