Firefighters from multiple national forests have responded to the Sycamore Fire northwest of Sedona and north of Clarkdale on the Chino Valley Ranger District in Sycamore Canyon Wilderness.
The human-caused Sycamore Fire, now at 230 acres, was reported at about 10:20 a.m. Monday, May 28, by a member of the public and Turkey Butte Lookout. It continues to burn in rugged terrain consisting mostly of pinon juniper.
Reports put the fire within Coconino National Forest boundaries about 9 miles northwest of Sedona, burning toward the northeast. However, the origin of the fire has now been determined to be on the west side of the canyon, which is located on the Prescott National Forest approximately 14 miles northwest of Sedona.
The fire has been kept to the west side of the canyon and light winds are pushing smoke toward the west/northwest.
- Advertisement -
Firefighting resources include five helicopters, two air attack resources, five crews, three Type I Hotshot crews and three engines—totaling more than 100 personnel.
Christopher Fox Graham is the managing editor of the Sedona Rock Rocks News, The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra. Hired by Larson Newspapers as a copy editor in 2004, he became assistant manager editor in October 2009 and managing editor in August 2013. Graham has won awards for editorials, investigative news reporting, headline writing, page design and community service from the Arizona Newspapers Association. Graham has also been featured in Editor & Publisher magazine. He lectures on journalism and First Amendment law and is a nationally recognized performance aka slam poet. Retired U.S. Army Col. John Mills, former director of Cybersecurity Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs referred to him as "Mr. Slam Poet." In January 2025, the International Astronomical Union formally named asteroid 29722 Chrisgraham (1999 AQ23) in his honor at the behest of Lowell Observatory, citing him as "an American journalist and longtime managing editor of Sedona Red Rock News. He is a nationally-recognized slam poet who has written and performed multiple poems about Pluto and other space themes."
Reports put the fire within Coconino National Forest boundaries about 9 miles northwest of Sedona, burning toward the northeast. However, the origin of the fire has now been determined to be on the west side of the canyon, which is located on the Prescott National Forest approximately 14 miles northwest of Sedona.
The fire has been kept to the west side of the canyon and light winds are pushing smoke toward the west/northwest.
Firefighting resources include five helicopters, two air attack resources, five crews, three Type I Hotshot crews and three engines—totaling more than 100 personnel.
No structures are threatened.
