Crown King Gladiator Fire – Day 4 Update 1

There are currently roughly 600 firefighters battling the Gladiator Fire in Crown King, Az.  Overnight the fire behaved as expected and has grown to 2,000 acres. This included moving North a couple of miles.  The North flank is now in lower elevations with more sporadic fuel sources.  The main firefighting front today is the West side, which is flanking through Bear Creek as expected. This is also where the fire is most active. One more firefighter injury was reported in the last 24 hours, but no details are available on that injury.  This brings the total number of injured firefighters to three.

Crews were battling the fire this morning with an impressive amount of resources.  All 5 slurry bombers from Prescott were making staggered runs on the fire at regular intervals.  Also, all tankers that were available from Gateway airport were requested.  It is unclear at this time if any of those are available.  Two Type 1 Helicopters are dropping water at regular intervals on the West side of the fire as well. Two more Type 1 helicopters were ordered in the 10:00am hour.

The meeting last night did not paint a pretty picture for Crown King.  The fear is that the Gladiator Fire is going to run up Towers Mountain, and move downhill into town.  Because of this the remaining residents that were staying back in town were urged to leave.  Most have done so, and only a limited few remain.  Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office has said that they are working on providing transportation to a few residents that do not have their own transportation.  Any residents that are still in town are told that if they leave their property for any reason, they will not be allowed to return.  Power is still out in town, and APS has not yet started repairing the lines.  Once it is safe enough for them to do so, it will take another 24 hours for power to be restored.

There is another meeting tonight at 6pm at the Mayer High School for residents to talk with fire officials and receive an official update.

As soon as the map of the fire boundaries is available, we will post it on this site.  Check back often, and remember we welcome comments at the bottom of the page.  Also, feel free to like the page on facebook.

Crews Working on the Gladiator Fire:

Note: With where the fire is now, we are not seeing as many of the crews come through town, if you know of other crews working on the fire, please let us know.

• Flagstaff Fire
• Hern County Fire
• Globe Fire Department
• BLM Phoenix Division
• Sacramento Hot Shots (Read about this crew from the Lane 2 Fire)
• Lewis Fire
• Perryvale (All Girls Crew)
• Smokey Boar IHC
• GI/A IHC
• Sante Fe Hot Shots
• Chino Valley Fire Crew
• Peeples Valley Fire Crew
• Verde Valley Fire Crew
• Mayer Fire Crew
• Central Yavapai Fire Crew
• Surprise Fire Crew
• Sun City Fire Crew
• Groom Creek Fire Crew
• Glendale Fire Crew
• Daisy Mountain Fire Crew
• Wildlands Fire Crew
• Navajo Hot Shots
• Crown King Fire Department
• USFS Crews (numerous)
• Payson Fire Crew
• Black Canyon City Fire Crew

Most recent Arizona Emergency Information Network Bulletin:

(Posted May 16, 2012, at 10:26 a.m.) Forecasted drier weather and associated strong winds continue to complicate suppression efforts on the Gladiator Fire. Winds from the southeast and south are expected to push the fire north and northwest today.

Fire behavior is expected to be extreme. Firefighters continue working to suppress the fire and provide structure protection to homes. Firefighting resources will focus on perimeter control when they can do so safely. Crews are also working to protect structures and communication sites west of the fire. In areas where direct attack is not feasible, they will focus on protecting individual structures ahead of the fire.

A community meeting is planned for Wednesday, May 16, at 6:00 pm at the Mayer High School, 17300 E. Mule Deer Drive, Spring Valley, Ariz.

Gladiator Fire summary:

• Size:  approximately 2,000 acres
• Containment: 5%
• Cause: Human Caused; originated from a structure fire on private property
• Time/Date Started: Sunday, May 13 @11:00am
• Location: Community of Crown King (T10N, R1W, S14)
• Jurisdiction: Private property and the Prescott National Forest
• Fuels: Ponderosa pine and chaparral
• Values at Risk: The community of Crown King and the Horsethief Basin.  Additional threats are posed to Forest Service campgrounds, lookout towers, communications sites, power lines and historic sites within the forest.
• Terrain: Steep, rugged, difficult access
• Resources: 3 Type-1 Crews, 4 Type-2 Crews, 11 Engines, 3 Type-1 Helicopters, 1 Type-3 Helicopter, 6 Type-1 Airtankers, Air Attack
• Total no. of personnel: 462
• Injuries to date: 3