Horton Fire near Payson faces pivotal moment with strong winds brought by winter weather system
PAYSON, Ariz. - The Horton Fire is continuing its burn through more than 8,000 acres near Payson.
Fire crews continue to battle the flames in the community northeast of Phoenix as several areas are on pre-evacuation orders.
With high winds on Wednesday, Jan. 8, firefighters could be facing a pivotal moment.
It all comes down to the element of wind: can this fire still be contained with the wind gusts reaching close to 30 miles per hour?
That is how fast the winds are projected to blow around Payson, according to the National Weather Service.
From the skies, a sliver of orange flames can be seen among the thick plumes of gray smoke.
On the ground, fire crews continue battling the flames.
Since it started December 14, it’s burned approximately 8,337 acres.
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Horton Fire: 8,000 acres burned northeast of Payson; public urged to take precautions
The Horton Fire is burning with 23% containment near Payson. According to the Tonto National Forest, the fire has burned more than 8,300 acres as of Jan. 7.
People living nearby can see and smell its effects.
"At our house we’ve mostly got smoke," said Robert Eggett, who lives in the Tonto Basin. "It got thick enough to where we can hardly see the mountains, and the mountains are right at my house, just a mile away."
"There’s a lot of smoke in the Valley where I live. I usually see it in the mornings when I’m going to work," said Tanner, who lives in Payson.
What they're saying
"Today is the crux," says Jayson Coil, the Operations Section Chief here at the incident command post.
Over the past three days, they’ve conducted burn-out operations between Tonto Creek and Christopher Creek on State Route 260 to get the fire down to its control lines.
"The intent for today is to hold those lines through this wind event. If we are successful in doing that, then it’s going to be a successful benchmark - if you will - for containment of this fire," Coil added.
So much so that Wednesday could be a make-or-break day.
"Today is the turning point either towards more rapid containment or just going to a larger fire scenario," said Coil.
It’s mainly due to the wind.
Wind is usually bad news for fire crews. However, if they can keep containment through the harsh winds, Coil says they’ll have confidence the flames will soon be under control.
The weather isn’t the only obstacle for crews either.
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"It’s on the rim, and it’s not too far from the Dude Fire. So the terrain is tricky, the amount of heavy fuels is tricky and the potential for the fire to roll – to move it beyond where we expect it to be is tricky. Fighting a fire on the rim is tricky. Fighting it in January is a whole different animal," said Coil.
Fires on the rim make it harder to get resources to the burn.
The cause of this fire is still unknown.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 10 Reporter Lauren Clark.