Update: Cellar Fire grows to more than 8,000 acres Tuesday
Updated as of Tuesday, July 16, 2019 10:51 PM
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated from a previous version.
What started out as a small 5-acre fire started by lightning near Wagoner this past weekend grew to more than 8,000 acres by Tuesday evening, according to the Arizona Interagency Wildfire website.
Reports earlier in the day had the Cellar Fire estimated to be at 1,000 acres.
"It's probably more than that," Prescott National Forest spokesperson Debbie Maneely said at the time in a phone interview with the Courier on Tuesday night. "We'll get a better idea tomorrow."
The smoke from the blaze could be seen for miles in towns like Dewey, Mayer, Chino Valley, Mayer, Prescott Valley and parts of Prescott as the sun set Tuesday night.
A tweet from the Prescott National Forest Service account said winds were pushing the fire to the north and east.
Four hotshot crews, two single-engine air tankers and one Type-1 helicopter are working the fire, which is burning six miles west of Towers Mountain.
“Crews focused suppression efforts on both the north and west flanks of the fire today, constructing dozer and hand line,” Maneely said in a statement. “Burnout operations to reinforce the effectiveness of the constructed lines occurred and will continue this week as conditions allow.”
ROADS CURRENTLY CLOSED
To protect firefighters and emergency responders, road closures will be implemented on the Bradshaw Ranger District.
At the junction of Forest Road 52 and Forest Road 261 south to the junction of Forest Road 52 and Forest Road 361; following Forest Road 52 east to Crown King.
Mayer-Bolander Road (County Road 177) is closed from the western boundary of Pine Flat west to Forest Road 52 (Senator Highway).
Live updates are posted on this link.
Watch The Daily Courier and dCourier.com for more.
Brian M. Bergner Jr. is news/sports editor for The Daily Courier. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and SoundCloud at @TheEditorDesk. Email him at bbergner@prescottaz.com, or call 928-445-3333, ext. 1106.
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