Crooks Fire balloons to 1,600 acres; community meeting tonight

The Crooks Fire has now reached 1,600 acres since Tuesday, April 19, according to the Prescott National Forest update this morning.

Firefighters are facing strong wind challenges on the Crooks Fire, which started 10 miles south of Prescott on the forest's Bradshaw Ranger District (T12N, R2W, SEC 12), near Mt Union.

It remains zero-percent contained and is under investigation. It is burning in brush, pine and mixed cedar.

Also this morning the Forest Service announced a community meeting set for Wednesday night at 6:30.

The live virtual and in-person community meeting will be held tonight, April 20, at 6:30. The virtual meeting will be held on the Prescott NF Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PrescottNF. The in-person meeting will be at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the hanger, 3700 Willow Creek Drive, Prescott.

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The Central Arizona West Zone Type 3 Incident Management has assumed command of the Crooks Fire and quickly engaged the fire with full suppression tactics, the Forest Service reported.

Red flag conditions in rugged terrain challenged firefighters’ and grounded aircraft through the day Tuesday. Fire activity increased as wind moved the fire west of Senator Highway and to the north-northeast toward Potato Patch, Walker and Breezy Pines.

Structure assessment activities are progressing in the communities of Potato Patch, Walker and Breezy Pines. Crews continue to look for opportunities to construct indirect line in hopes to keep the fire south of FSR 261 and progressing to the north.

Due to the increased complexity and values at risk on the Crooks Fire, Southern California Interagency Incident Management T4 will be arriving Wednesday and will assume command of the fire at 6 p.m.

Resources Assigned: two Type 2 Hand crews, five Type 1 Hotshot crews, 14 Engines, five Helicopters, and miscellaneous overhead resources.

Weather: Breezy southwest winds at 10 to 15 mph with afternoon humidity in the teens will bring near critical fire weather conditions.

Evacuations: Information about current evacuation status can be found on the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/YavapaiCountySheriff/.

Forest Closure: To provide public health and safety due to firefighting operations and fire danger associated with the uncontrolled Crooks Fire the Prescott National Forest has implemented a forest closure. To view the closure order and map visit the Prescott National Forest Alerts & Notices, usda.gov.

Also, the City of Prescott has closed two recreation areas due to ongoing operations related to the Crooks Fire. Watson Lake and Goldwater Lake recreation areas have been closed until further notice.

This includes the trails that are inside the park boundaries. Willow Lake, Pioneer Park and other City of Prescott recreation areas remain open at this time. City trails outside of the park boundaries, such as the Peavine Trail, remain open.

For ongoing updates about City of Prescott activities, and wildland fire updates follow City of Prescott on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cityofprescottaz and Instagram @CityofPrescottAZ.

For more information and updates from the Courier, click HERE.

RESOURCES

Fire Information: 928-925-1111, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Email: 2022.CrookFire@firenet.gov

Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8067/

Code RED: https://public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/A45C10E5EC0F?fbclid=IwAR1SYjO7ZiXpsORXlVyZf3j1TMvmWvJLRIA7Xvh6lXbj9kpth8z_ZM7rMcM

Prescott NF Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PrescottNF

Prescott NF Twitter: https://twitter.com/PrescottNF

Prescott National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/prescott/

Prescott Area Wildland Urban Interface Commission, yavapaifirewise.org

Yavapai County Emergency Management, https://yavapaiaz.gov/publicworks/emergency-management.

Watch dCourier.com and The Daily Courier for updates as information is made available.