Leroux Fire
An abandoned campfire off of Freidlein Prairie Road sparked a 1,300 acre burn in June of 2001 on the San Francisco Peaks. Eight hundred firefighters worked for a week to contain the blaze. The fire served as "wake up" call to the Flagstaff community, raising consciousness about the heavy fuel build up in local forests and the potential impact of severe regional drought.
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Spectators view the Leroux Fire from Hwy. 180 pull-out on June 11, 2001. |
I estimated I was about one-half mile above the fire, midway on the six-mile long Kachina Trail. The wind was blowing strongly, pushing the fire in my direction ... I had no experience with fire and had no way of gauging the fire's speed or appetite ... I now wondered on my first visit to this area if my eyes would be the last to see these thick forests. Smoke battled wind for control of the sharp, blue sky, and as the first aircraft appeared to fight the blaze, I was struck by how war-like a man-made forest fire could be.
A US Forest Service worker was at work putting barriers in place closing the trail at the Weatherford entrance to the backcountry. I asked if he thought the Kachina Trail would burn. He said, "It's probably burning now."
—Mark Bily
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| Silver State Hotshots from Elko Nevada, part of the Bureau of Land Management Interagency fire fighting crew, work hard to ensure the Leroux Fire is extinguished, June 12, 2001. |
