SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. – A wildfire burning southeast of Sierra Vista has sparked mandatory evacuations and forced the Department of Public Safety to close a portion of State Route 92.
The Monument Fire started Sunday afternoon and is burning in the Huachuca Mountains of the Coronado National Memorial and Coronado National Forest. The forest is closed to all visitors.
The fire has burned 9,300 acres and is 17 percent contained. The fire jumped over Highway 92 at Stump Canyon (milepost 332) Thursday afternoon and is now burning on the east side of the highway.
The fire is 100 yards south of Hereford Road at Ranch Road and several residents are refusing to leave, according to the Cochise County Sheriff's Office.
As of 4 p.m. Thursday, Southwest Gas has turned off the gas line to 57 customers in an area south of Hereford Road and east to Highway 92. This was done as a precaution to minimize impact from the fire and to protect public safety.
Forty homes and 10 other buildings have been damaged or destroyed in the Ash Canyon area. No injuries have been reported.
More than 500 fire personnel are on the scene. Strong winds are expected in the area on Thursday, which could hamper firefighters' efforts.
Officials said the fire was human-caused and is under investigation.
Road closures:
Highway 92 is closed from Ramsey Road to Coronado Memorial Road. DPS is advising motorists to use State Route 90 and State Route 80 as alternates. For local traffic only, State Route 92 is open from the junction of S.R. 90 to Sierra Vista.
The Bisbee Police Department has closed Highway 92 at Willson Road in Bisbee. All traffic is being diverted back along Highway 80.
There is a road closure at Rio Santiago and Three Canyons.
Y Lightning and Hereford Road is closed to all traffic.
Highway 92 and Palominas closed
Highway 92 and Ramsey Road closed
Hereford and Moson
The following roads are being closed to allow for ingress/egress of air support units gathering water at these locations: Avenida Saracino, South San Pedro and Ramsey, and Loma and Highway 92.
Ash Canyon, Hunter Canyon, Stump Canyon, Lower Stump Canyon, Turkey Track and Three Canyons will remain closed until further notice.
Mandatory evacuations for:
Entire east and west side of Highway 92 between Ramsey Road and Hereford Road
All areas between Ramsey Road east to Moson Road, south to Hereford Road
Hereford Road to Palominas Road south to Highway 92 and back to the west to Highway 92
Pre-evacuations for:
West of Highway 92: From Miller Canyon north to Ramsey Canyon
East of Highway 92: From Hereford Road north to Ramsey Road. One mile east of Highway 92 on Hereford Road to approximately Y Lightning Ranch Road.
East from Highway 92 to the San Pedro River between Ramsey Road and Highway 92.
Evacuee information:
People who have been evacuated from their homes can go to the Apache Middle School, 3305 E. Fry Blvd., Sierra Vista.
The Red Cross set up a receiving center at the Palominas Elementary School, 10385 E. Hwy 92, Hereford. It is open until 7 p.m.
Cochise College in Douglas has offered the use of their dorms. Anyone interested is asked to call Dean Bo Hall at 520-227-9302 for further information.
The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office has resource information available to help move large animals. Anyone needing assistance is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 520-432-9500 and they will be able to give phone numbers for volunteers to help in this effort.
Donations are being accepted at the Fry Fire Station on Yaqui and the Red Cross Shelter/City of Sierra Vista at Apache Middle School in Sierra Vista. A list of specific supplies that are currently lacking is available on the city's website. The Red Cross has requested that gift cards in $5 denominations or monetary donations be given in lieu of bulky supplies requiring storage. Get more information about how to help.
Fire information bulletin boards will be set up at the Incident Command Center at Valley View Elementary, the food court at the Sierra Vista Mall, in Hereford near the Post Office, and Jumping Jack convenience store on Highway 92 in Palominas.

The Monument fire is up to 18,580 acres. It hasn't burned very much into Miller Canyon yet but it has jumped highway 92 and is burning on the east side of the highway. It has reached Hereford road east of 92, but has been held there so far.

This is the current incident map from http://inciweb.org/incident/2324/:

<img src="/album_pic.php?pic_id=828" border="0" vspace="10" alt="Monument fire on 6-17-11" title="Monument fire on 6-17-11">

This afternoon another fire started along a road on Ft. Huachuca, and is currently at around 50 acres. It's called the Antelope fire, and they're already hitting it with aereal tankers and ground crews to try to keep it from growing.

TV news is reporting tonight that Nicks bar has been destroyed in the fire. The Mesquite Tree restaraunt was reported on TV to have burned, but the Montezuma Fire face book page reports it was still there, so there's a lot of convusion. An explosion around a gas station was reported, I guess that's probably the convenience store next to the Post Office, but the Post Office itself was reported to still be ok.

The 9 PM report at http://inciweb.org/incident/2324/ says that fire fed by 50 mph winds blew through containment lines, and grounded firefighting aircraft. Several homes in Carr Canyon are now threatened by a spot fire that jumped the line and got away from the crews fighting it.

Evacuations are now occurring as far north as route 90 (Fry Boulevard) between Moson Road and the San Pedro river.

The fire is now at 27000 acres and is 27% contained.

Update: SV Herald report from today http://www.svherald.com/content/monumen ... /19/207730

Wow. I can't imagine Nick's being gone. That place has been a Hereford fixture for near a century. In it, were lost priceless Mark Sawyer original hang gliding photos. How sad.

The Horseshoe fire has decimated pretty much all of the Chiricahua's as well.

This is the current incident map from http://inciweb.org/incident/2324/:

<img src="/album_pic.php?pic_id=829" border="0" vspace="10" alt="Monument fire burn map 6/20/11" title="Monument fire burn map 6/20/11">

The fire has burned through Miller Canyon, the Reefs, and a large part of Carr Canyon. A post on the "Montezuma File Arizona" facebook page said that the homes in the lower part of Carr Canyon were spared, but the canyon itself has burned. No word on the homes surrounding Miller LZ or the B&B in the canyon, I hope the structure crews were able to save them. The homes at the entrance to Miller Canyon were reported saved by a county supervisor who visited the scene.

Latest word is that contrary to earlier reporting the Mesquite Tree restaurant was not burned.

A group of about 90 National Guard MPs have been activated for state duty to help local law enforcement with security - they should arrive on Tuesday.

The current estimate is that this fire won't be contained until around July 15th.

I received the following reply from our friend, John Langholff who lives in the area:

We are OK! The fire burned right around our house without causing any damage. I try to stay fire safe with short grass and gravel landscaping. Everyone that lives out in the neighborhood by me has suffered no damage from the fire. We were evacuated last Tuesday and are staying with some friends that live on the golf course in town.
The area where you used to take off from has burned, so it might be quite a whike before you would want to go back up there.

TV news is reporting that Rt. 92 is open again and people are returning to their homes.

http://inciweb.org/incident/2324/ reports the fire is 59% contained. Firefighters are continuing burnout operations to improve containment of the fire. Winds are expected to continue to be light, although high temperatures and low humidity continue to be an issue.