Contributed Photo: The Jackson Fire burns in the Santa Teresa Mountains on Monday night. The fire grew to 2,946 acres but suppression efforts and a thunderstorm have helped keep it at bay.
By Jon Johnson
SANTA TERESA WILDERNESS – Helicopter water drops, fire lines, and a little dosing of an afternoon thunderstorm helped douse the 2,946-acre Jackson Fire in the Santa Teresa Mountains on Thursday.
The fire, which began by a lightning strike Saturday, July 11 near Jackson Peak at about 6 p.m., was reported to have 60 percent containment. Crews spent Friday mopping up the fire with a brush clipping operation along Black Rock Road and continued other suppression efforts.
However, the thunderstorm that helped put out the Jackson Fire ignited a new fire along Horse Camp Canyon, which is a north/south tributary of Aravaipa Creek. The new fire, dubbed the Horse Fire, grew to about 100 acres before air tankers were able to respond to drop retardant. One crew was pulled off the Jackson Fire to battle the Horse Fire and five firefighters were flown in and rappelled down to battle the blaze.
According to the Bureau of Land Management, both fires were to be assessed on Friday to determine which resources were needed at which fire.
“Unneeded resources will be demobilized to right-size the workforce for remaining suppression work,” a BLM notice stated. “Those demobilized will either be reassigned to other area fires or return to home stations to rest, resupply, and prepare for additional assignments.”
Black Rock Road remains closed at the San Carlos Apache Reservation boundary and a temporary flight restriction is in place over both the Jackson Fire and the Horse Fire.
