Spread of Telegraph Fire southwest of Globe, AZ slows

Updated at 9:51 a.m. MDT June 10, 2021

map Telegraph & Mescal Fires
The red areas represent heat detected on the Telegraph & Mescal Fires by a satellite at 3:48 a.m. MDT June 10, 2021. The yellow line was the perimeter mapped by an aircraft at 9:15 p.m. MDT June 9, 2021. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before.

Firefighters on the Telegraph Fire have completed defensive burning operations around the communication towers on Pinal Peak one to two miles east of the main fire. South of Miami andn Claypool they are using dozers to construct several indirect contingency fire lines, and are burning out from some of the lines. On Thursday, for the first time a 15-mile stretch of fire perimeter west of Pinal Peak will be staffed by firefighters. Aerial ignitions are being conducted on the north side of the Pinals to bring fire slowly down the slopes in an attempt to lessen the severity of the fire effects. The fire has burned 85,335 acres.

Good progress is being made on the Mescal Fire, which was mapped at 72,250 acres Wednesday night.


Updated 8:48 a.m. MDT June 9, 2021

Mescal Fire, June 8, 2021
The San Carlos hand crew and the Bear Jaw Type 2IA Crew teamed up on a large spot fire on the west flank of the Mescal Fire June 8, 2021. BLM photo by Mike McMillan.

The Telegraph and Mescal Fires east of Phoenix continued to grow Wednesday. Both of the fires are near Globe, and are six miles apart separated by Highway 77.

Telegraph
Tuesday night satellites detected heat on Pinal Peak three miles east of the main fire. This could indicate firefighters are using fire to reduce the vegetation around the electronic sites on the mountain. (See the map below.)

The blaze was mapped by an aircraft Tuesday night at 80,822 acres, a 24-hour increase of about 4,000 acres.

Resources assigned include 20 hand crews, 39 engines, and 6 helicopters, for a total of 754 personnel, a 24-hour increase of 457 personnel.

mapTelegraph & Mescal Fires
The red areas represent heat detected on the Telegraph & Mescal Fires by a satellite at 4:06 a.m. MDT June 9, 2021. The yellow line was the perimeter mapped by an aircraft at 8:36 p.m. MDT June 8, 2021. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before.

Mescal
The only large concentrations of heat detected on the Mescal Fire Tuesday night by satellites was east of the 700 Road where firefighters are firing out, using the road as a barrier.

The Mescal Fire was mapped by an aircraft Tuesday night at 70,066 acres, an increase of about 3,000 acres.

Resources assigned include 16 hand crews, 25 engines, and 8 helicopters, for a total of 610 personnel, a 24-hour decrease of 49 personnel.

Mescal Fire
Mescal Fire, June 6, 2021. BLM photo by Mike McMillan.

8:52 a.m. MDT June 8, 2021

map Telegraph & Mescal Fires 235 a.m. MDT June 8, 2021
The red areas represent heat detected on the Telegraph & Mescal Fires by a satellite at 2:35 a.m. MDT June 8, 2021. The yellow line was the perimeter at 8:37 p.m. MDT June 7, 2021. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before.

The Telegraph and Mescal Fires east of Phoenix, Arizona were both active Monday and Monday night.

Telegraph Fire
Most of the growth of the Telegraph Fire Monday was on the northeast side, south of Miami and Claypool. At 2 a.m. Tuesday it was a half mile to one mile west of Russell Road near the Solitude Tailings Pond, about 2.5 miles west of Highway 60 in Globe.

The incident management team said Tuesday morning that it had burned 71,756 acres, an increase of about 10,000 acres in 24 hours.

Firefighters are protecting values in Top of the World, Superior, Claypool, Miami, and Globe. One of the primary goals is keeping the fire south of U.S. 60.

Mesa Hotshots, on the Telegraph Fire, Superior, AZ
After spending the night shift burning out in Soda Canyon on the Mescal Fire, southeast of Globe, Arizona, the Mesa Hotshots had to make the long drive back over the mountain to Superior, Arizona where they had day sleeping accommodations in the Hotel Magma. The crew was packing their vehicles around 4 pm on June 5, 2021 as they prepared to head back east to work the night shift again. Smoke from the Telegraph Fire is seen in the background. Photo by Tom Story.

Crews are conducting burnout operations where strategically feasible, generally along roads, to remove fuel ahead of the fire .

The fire is expected to continue spreading to the north. Where the perimeter has not been secured on the north side it could fill in some of the gaps where it has not yet reached Highway 60.

Sunday evening the Gila County Sheriff’s Office announced a “GO” notification for all Miami residents west of the Miami town limits. Earlier evacuations had been ordered for the Top-of-the-World Community between Superior and Miami. All of these communities are along US 60.(see map above)

To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Telegraph and Mescal Fire, including the most recent, click HERE.

Resources assigned to the Telegraph Fire include 7 hand crews, 21 engines, and 4 helicopters for a total of 297 personnel.

Mescal Fire
On Monday the Mescal Fire was far less active than the Telegraph Fire. Many of the strategic firing operations to stop the spread have been successful, including about 8 miles along Highway 70.

Some firefighting resources have been transferred to the Telegraph Fire.

At 2:36 a.m. satellites detected large heat sources in only two areas, the west side about 4 miles east of Highway 77, and on the southeast side about 3 miles west of San Carlos Reservoir.

An overnight mapping flight determined the Mescal Fire had burned about 66,000 acres, a 24-hour increase of about 14,000 acres.

Resources assigned to the Mescal Fire include 18 hand crews, 23 engines, and 7 helicopters for a total of 659 personnel.

Mescal Fire
Burning out on the Mescal Fire, June 6, 2021. BLM photo by Mike McMillan.

Typos, let us know HERE, and specify which article. Please read the commenting rules before you post a comment.

Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

33 thoughts on “Spread of Telegraph Fire southwest of Globe, AZ slows”

  1. Frank Carroll, what evidence do you have of widespread burning in the name of restoration?

    Someone else said “indiscriminate” burning, same question, what evidence supports such accuasations?

    All the evidence I see in these comments is Frank Carroll attempting “restore” his bank account through hi Fire forensics ambulance chasing business and another fellah “indiscriminately” accusing firefighters of burning without cause, bordering on arson. You all better have something super solid to base this on. I have been watching this fire since the start, looks like solid work dealing with a fire that was explosive from the get go. I personally was elated to see someone with a pair make the call to burnout from the top of the Pinals.

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  2. Those “structures” are peoples’ homes. Those “structures” are more important than old growth forests, in my opinion and in a lot of peoples’ opinions. I have an old friend, I worked with for years, who lives with his wife in Globe. I can tell you “expert” old farts, they only care about their “structure”, not your sage advice on how the fire started or how you would fight it, or how we did it in days of yore.
    Grab a shovel, strap on your gear and go help out. Or shut your mouths and pray for the “structures” and the people who call them homes and most of all, the brave people who have their asses on the line. Remember the “Granite Mountain Crew and pray.

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  3. As someone mentioned before, this is Sonoran Desert and it’s not adapted to frequent fire. This isn’t a system that’s out of whack due to decades of fire suppression and subsequent fuel accumulation. It’s out of whack due to non-native invasive vegetation creating a continuous fuel bed in a system that would not naturally have a continuous fuel bed (something that was not the case in the 1960s or 1970s). It really would be best if the desert were not burned in a burnout or from the wildfire.

    I don’t think it’s right to second guess the tactics employed. Too many times I have heard experienced fire managers criticize how a fire they are not familiar with is/was managed, only to talk to the guys who actually managed the fire and found out all the nuances that resulted in the decisions they had to make. The managers are doing the best they can under the conditions and resources they’ve been allotted. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. I think it’s okay to thoughtfully question why they are doing what they are doing, but I don’t think there’s enough data to suggest they have made any mistakes or are managing the fire incorrectly.

    I also don’t think how wildfires were managed in the 1960s and 1970s should be compared to contemporary conditions. A “large” wildfire today is an order of magnitude larger than what one considered a large fire in 1970. The contemporary fire season is much warmer and longer than anything contended with before 1980, shoot, or even before 2010. Not to mention, safety tolerances in the 1960/70s are not comparable to today (e.g., how many people wore seatbelts or motorcycle helmets in 1970?). Fires are routinely doing things the models suggest are impossible and the models used to work pretty well. It’s understandable to not want to risk the lives of 20 year old GS-3s.

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    1. My point is that somewhere along the line, wildland fire suppression has transitioned from fast, aggressive initial attack, going direct for the most part, to more conservative initial attack where aviation resources are delayed or not dispatched as part of the initial response. Whatever the reasons, this has an effect on the strategy and tactics of fires in general. Yes, warmer, drier seasons with widespread drought has an influence. I don’t know why Fire Managers or ICs have chosen to change thought processes. I see far fewer hose lays than in the past. Why is that? My thought is that it’s easier to back off to a road and burn out. I see far less line construction than in the past. Why is that? Same reason. I could be wrong, but if it walks and talks like a duck then…
      I’m happy to hear what these thought processes are. In the past, we would routinely make hose lays or construct line, in conjunction with retardant or water drops, on 100 to 1000+ acre fires and be successful, mop up for a few days and be done. Less exposure, fewer resources, lower cost, etc. than these 2-4 week fires where prepping and burning just increases exposure, uses more resources (aviation included) and costs way more. That’s what I don’t understand.

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      1. Good luck getting a hoselay put in in the country the Mescal fire started in. Rugged and inaccessible as can be. No road access. Very rough ground access. Incredibly hot. Not all fire tactics are applicable in all situations. Anyone who has fought fire in drastically different fuel types/terrain should know that.

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        1. I realize that, I’ve been to many fires in the area. Just speaking generally, throughout the west, even in Southern California, those practices are rare.

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  4. Thank you for what you do to contain wild fires and try to keep homes and families safe.

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  5. Before the extreme drought in the southwest is over and just a memory there will be serious changes to the eco- systems and vegetation of the northern Sonoran Desert. The terrain will start looking more like that of the Chihuahuan desert and southern Sonoran desert as the vegetation dies permanently from lack of moisture and fire.
    The vegetation in most of the southwest is fragile and just hanging on by a thread. People should try to understand that this is just nature making a transition because of environmental stressors. Places that were beautiful before the drought and the more-than-a-decade string of intense fire seasons will be less beautiful and less habitable by advancing development. Where I live in northern AZ we have seen a die-off of of Prickly Pear Cactus from lack of moisture. That cactus is hard to kill but it should be a sign to all that that’s how extreme this drought is. The Ponderosa pine die-off in Colorado ( starting over 8 years ago) should have been the first hint at what was coming but it continues to be ignored.

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  6. Yellow excuse me and what are you trying to say but this is true should I evacuate my family my loved ones my valuable items and important paperwork? Why haven’t we been evacuated yet is the real question huh question

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  7. I echo Frank Carroll’s comments. The indiscriminate use of fire on the wildland is reminiscent of the Vietnam era saying of “We’ve got to destroy this village to save it”. We can’t save old growth timber or Sage or Sonoran desert by burning it peak fire season of the worst drought in memory. USFS has got to change its fire management tactics…the light hand on the land is destroying our legacy.

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    1. I think the biggest mistake being made in fire fighting tactics is the lack of concern until it involves structures. They are far to willing to concede way too much forest when it comes to containment as long as there are no structures at risk. a house or building can be rebuilt much quicker than o forest can grow back. Fires don’t need air to burn, they need oxygen. Year after year of fires adds up. It’s like people have forgotten that trees are what produce oxygen for our air, and during that process they use(remove) carbon to do it. Go look at areas devastated by forest fire 20 years ago and see if it resembles anything close to what it looked like before the fire. Add it up nationally and globally and it has to make a difference. Remember its a two fold process – they remove carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air. There is also no way that that amount of high heat consuming that much oxygen for the length of time these bad fires continue to burn doesn’t affect weather patterns either.

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      1. Michael Giacoletti, do you have much data on carbon sequestration of an old forest vs. a new one? I’ve been reading it is often higher with the regrowth. Obviously plenty of variation based on ecotype, climate, etc, but your general assertions seem to be assumptions?

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  8. Enjoying the armchair quarterbacks of the first two comments. It’s always helpful to hear the “back in my day” or “here’s what’s wrong with the tactics” comments from folks who aren’t scrambling over the rocks and chasing stringers of fire up and down 2000+ foot elevation changes in the heat.

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    1. Been there, done that. Not saying don’t burn out, but make better choices on when and where, and go direct when you can. Don’t just arbitrarily make a thousand acre fire into a 100000 acre fire.

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      1. Hey Jeff. I fully understand what you’ve said. I spent 3 seasons on IR crews back in the late 60’s, early 70’s plus a few other firefighting stints. I know we never once used drip torches nor do I recall ever using any burn-out techniques. In fact I can’t recall even seeing drip torches on any of the fires I was on. For many years now, particularly following WFT, a predominant ground pounder vs flames image is that of a deliberate “start” by the FF holding a drip torch. I have often wondered if crew type fire fighting techniques have become less aggressive. And for what reasons or reasoning? Or am I missing something in my memories of my grand wildland firefighting days? LR

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        1. Well, you may hear from this generation of wildland fire fighters that the ways of the past are just that. The past. Is it more effective to burn out large amounts of acres, or go direct? I think some combination of the two is appropriate under most situations, or going direct on initial attack. Burning out large numbers of acres is easy, compared to going direct over large numbers of acres for sure, but you destroy large numbers of habitat acres, etc. as Frank has mentioned above. If you go direct and contain most fires small, then we all know how that goes in the long run. It appears that teams and crews are still being aggressive, just in a different way. That’s why I think it’s important to use a combination of strategy and tactics to keep emerging fires at reasonable sizes. You use fewer resources, you have less exposure to those resources, and you keep costs down. I’m a firm believer in going direct, because as far as I know, we have never had burn over fatality on direct fire line. I also realize that’s not reasonable.

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            1. Twisp fire and Cramer fire too I believe. If not on direct fireline, they were close and on fires where direct attack was the strategy at the time of burnover.

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              1. Hi Hiker. To clarify…. Twisp fire was a stuck brush rig that missed a curve in the road because of dense smoke. Cramer was 2 rappelers who were constructing a helo LZ well above and 1 drainage over from the fire. They didn’t cut line and were initially well out of harm’s way when they dropped in. LR

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            2. Hi Crispy. In the end, l view South Canyon as a serious error in judgement, lacking knowledge of the plant community they were in and, of course, of the approaching cold front. The jumpers were cutting indirect or were they basically cold-trailing under an unburned Gamble Oak canopy?

              Loop Fire? That was a total F-up (as in Yarnell Hill) by today’s standards. In a chute with the fire below. LR

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      1. “Been there, done that”, “wait until you get some experience”. Spoken like true armchair warriors who aren’t actually on the ground currently. I shouldn’t have to cite bona fides to a comments section full of people who have the comfort of second guessing the strategy being used on an ongoing incident. Or who don’t appear to particularly care for firing v. line construction. But I guess I will, since the snide dismissals are part and parcel of the problem. Should I start with years (just short of decades, plural) red card quals, post graduate fire ecology education, or plain old calluses? How we’ve always done it, or “late 60’s, early 70’s” doesn’t pass muster, and in point of fact helped put us in the mess we’re in. Better choices are being made, and they’re not arbitrary – but then why am I explaining any of this to the sages here? We appreciate your public service, trailblazing and hard work. But maybe, just maybe, we’ve learned something along the way too.

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        1. 44 seasons, DIVS (current), so on the ground constantly. Agree to disagree. One foot in the black, anchor and flank. But I guess that doesn’t mean anything anymore. I’ll stick with that, thanks.

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  9. Once again we are witnessing widespread burning on these fires under the mistaken notion that “restoration wildfire” is good for the landscape. Firefighters on Bales’ team will soon burn off the entirety of the Pinal Mountains, one of the rare bastions of old-growth trees in the central desert, and hundreds of years of history in Ice House Canyon and all along the front south of Globe. The Ranger declared yesterday that they will send burners to the south side of Globe along Russell Canyon and light the mountain from the bottom to the top. Insanity. I predict the two fire teams will merge the two large fires, on purpose, and burn south along Highway 77 all the way to the lake shore.

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      1. Put it out when it first starts. This is what? 30 miles from Superior to Globe? Let the ranchers lease land to graze their cattle on again, add some goats, and get the low dry grass gone. We have dried wild oats all over the place. this is just ridiculous, destroy old growth timber for what? BLM hasn’t done a very good job of managing our land. Not only does this endanger fire personnel, but older disabled adults having to move their belonging to another site, then back, that is if they have a home to return to.

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    1. Bush Fire from last year comes to mind. Easy to carry a drip torch, what ever happened to cutting line? Going direct is usually safer, depending on the terrain, so come on, look for better opportunities than just backing off to two-lane highways. I know we’re not supposed to comment on tactics here Bill, but we used to put these fires out going direct, which I know is what got us in this mess in the first place. A lot of this is Sonoran desert which is not fire dependent.

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    2. You are absolutely correct. They will sacrifice the old forest to “save” the city.

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    3. What about this fire progression map makes you think the majority of this fire spread is from firing out? It sure looks like major wind-driven runs spreading to the NE pushed by SW winds. The only sign of spread from burning I can see is at the head of mescal to hold the highway.

      What about 10,000 acre runs every day makes you think direct line construction would be remotely effective? How would you conduct that operation? How do you catch a fire with direct tactics when the fire spreads majorly outpaces line construction?

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      1. X2…
        Let’s face it….wildland fire in general presents a new paradigm. Fire suppression tactics need to be adjusted to meet on the ground realities.

        We know, or should know when catching a fire at IA just isn’t going to happen. Direct or close indirect is always preferred, but often isn’t viable. Chasing 10, 20, 100 thousand acre runs is a fool’s errand. Only option is going big, and yeah, that puts a lot of fire on the ground.
        Would rather see 5000 acres burned off intentionally as part of IA if that’s what it takes to keep a fire going mega.
        3 fires in NE Nevada accounted for 3/4 of a million acres in 2018. Flank and pinch doesn’t get the job done under those conditions Firing off might, or it might not. Too many liabilities involved for a young(or even old) IA I.C. to make those calls, unfortunately.
        This is not the 70’s when a 30,000 acre fire was a big deal.
        I don’t envy this generation of IA I.C.’s….They have their hands full for sure.

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    4. Hi Frank. It’s hovering between 105 and 110 outside so I’ve spent some time inside researching the Telegraph Fire and the resources of the Pinal Mountains. I sincerely empathize regarding the loss of resources as you mentioned in your June 8 comment. Intimate knowledge of an area that is the bull’s-eye of a major wildfire reminds me of a Lou Reed album title, “Magic and Loss”. The concern/fear of how a fire is managed may be a preoccupation…. been there more than once.

      Studying the daily Telegraph Fire maps/progressions it’s apparent to me that burning out around the electronic and communications infrastructure atop the Pinals blew up into a distinctly separate 60,000 acre fire. As of last night it appears that Icehouse Canyon has been spared, perhaps through thought and active intent. I’m not “arm-chairing”, just presenting my thoughts that perhaps management isn’t all bad.

      It is ironic that as much of the Pinals are burning, perhaps a large acreage via “necessary intent”, the habitat of the Arizona Prominent, a rare moth found only in the Pinals has gone up in smoke. LR

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