The town of Mayer, located 24 miles west-southwest of Camp Verde and 42 miles southwest of Sedona, was evacuated late yesterday and closed State Route 69 between Interstate 17 and Prescott. Drivers heading to Prescott from the Verde Valley can still reach Prescott via State Route 169 through Dewey-Humboldt or via State Route 89A through Jerome.
Map courtesy of Wildfire Today/U.S. Forest Service/NASA
The fire started Saturday, June 24, around 4 p.m. and burned about 4,377 acres as of Sunday, June 25, and about 12,000 acres as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 27, due to poor humidity recovery and high temperatures. High, southwestern winds shifted the fire’s growth and the town of Mayer was put under emergency evacuation order.
The Goodwin Fire jumped State Route 69 around 9 p.m. Tuesday. As of Wednesday, June 28, the fire had grown to 20,000 acres, roughly the same size as the 21,000-acre Slide Fire that burned in Oak Creek Canyon in 2014. Southwest Interagency Type 1 Team, Team 2, Incident Commander John Pierson is directing the efforts about at least 752 wildland firefighters including some from Verde Valley fire agencies.
The blaze is about 1 percent contained.
The primary carrier of the fire is chaparral, with heavy fuel concentrations of a significant dead component, which will support up-hill runs as winds and temperatures increase. Heavy grass loads have accumulated over the last several years, resulting in a consistent horizontal fuel load.
Verde Valley residents can expect heavy smoke in the air for the next few days. The extremely young, extremely old and those with breathing problems should avoid being outside for extended periods of time.
Mandatory Evacuation orders have already been issued for all of Mayer. Evacuations are also in effect for the Breezy Pines subdivision as well as for the area north of the Goodwin-Mayer Road/County Road 177, and west of State Route 69, from Mayer to Poland Junction. Arizona legally doesn’t have any “mandatory” evacuation law, or any enforceable statutes, but residents are strongly encouraged to evacuate.
This does not include areas east of Highway 69. The evacuation for the community of Pine Flat is still in place. For additional information please call the Yavapai County Emergency Operation Center at (928) 442-5103, 7 a.m. 7 p.m.
Pre-evacuations have been ordered for Walker, Potato Patch, Mountain Pines Acres and Mount Union.
