While the Cornville Fire has all but slowed to a halt, a new fire has ignited southeast of Camp Verde and is spreading rapidly.
The new fire, dubbed the Backbone Fire, ignited around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 16 about 15 miles southeast of Camp Verde near the Fossil Creek recreation area and Child’s powerplant substation, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
As of the morning of June 19, the fire is 0% contained and has burned around 17,126 acres. Lightning has been determined to be the cause.
Residents of the Hunts Ranch and Strawberry communities are being evacuated, according to the Gila County Sheriff’s Office. The Red Cross is currently working to set up a shelter at the Payson High School at 301 S. McLane Road.
The Fossil Creek recreation area, including Waterfall Trail, Irving/Flume, Tonto Bench, Fossil Creek Bridge, Homestead, Sally May, Purple Mountain and Mazatzal, are closed.
Due to the rugged terrain and location of the fire, crews are having difficulty accessing it. Aircraft have been deployed to dump fire retardant on the blaze to help suppress it.
Cornville Fire
As of the morning of Friday, June 18, the Cornville Fire is 92% contained and has not experienced any growth since June 16.
The fire is continuing to smolder on the 1,240 acres it burned, and all but the Coconino National Forest firefighters have returned to their stations. The remaining crews are conducting mop-up operations to make sure the fire doesn’t leave the perimeters created.
“Other than some internal pockets of the fire slowly burning and producing very light smoke, there has been no activity or movement of the wildfire,” according to the InciWeb page for the fire.
The cause is still under investigation but homes and residents are no longer considered in danger.
*Article will be updated as new information becomes available.
