The West Fire was started by a lightning strike on August 28th.
On September 11, we left our home in Mesa to return to our mountain cabin in Pine.
We checked Watch Duty for forest fires near our cabin, and were shocked to discover this fire right in our backyard!
In this blog post are some of the daily operational updates have been provided to the public by the National Forest Service-Tonto National Forest.
A forest fire was on the rim in one of our very favorite campsites ever. We had camped, hiked, and danced for a week in August in this spectacular area on the edge of the Rim.
We could see Camp Geronimo in the valley below where we were camped. The far hillside is Milk Ranch Point, a five-mile peninsula on the Rim that towers over Pine to the east.
The entire area on the edge of the rim where we camped, hiked, and danced just a few weeks ago is in flames.
This is the same spot where we hiked to with Sean, Emily, Soren, and Sebastian when they visited us in July of 2023.
This last summer in June we again hiked to this spectacular place on top of the Rim—this time with Rachelle, Ryan, Ida, Alden, and Wilder. Rachelle fixed us all a picnic lunch, which we ate in the grassy meadow under the pine trees near the edge of the Rim.
This area, where we have played and have so many lovely memories, is on fire. Nothing can take these memories from us. We will cherish them forever.
And in a few years, when the earth has healed itself, we will return to this magical place on earth….and we will make more wonderful memories.
The yellow pin on the map below marks the area on top of the Rim where we hiked with our family, and where Danny and I spent a week camping this past August.
You can also see Camp Geronimo in the valley to the west of the yellow pin. Further west, on top of the Rim, is Milk Ranch Point.
And just beyond Milk Ranch Point to the west is our little hamlet of Pine, where our sweet cabin is nestled.
The West Fire is threatening our mountain home in Pine that is located 2,000 feet below the cliffs of the Mogollon Rim.
But the brave, hardworking firefighters are working day and night to protect us.
Here the firefighters are working to save Camp Geronimo, where countless Scouts have gathered and spent many summers working to earn their Eagle Scout badges.
We visited Camp Geronimo in the summer of 2023 with our two grandsons who are Scouts and their father who is an Eagle Scout….and now works with Scouting America on the east coast.
Sean, Soren, and Sebastian at Camp Geronimo, showing respect and honor with the Scout salute.
Now our town of Pine is on a “SET” notice….we have been notified that we should not be ready, but should be SET to evacuate.
The evacuation notifications are: READY….SET….GO.
We have great confidence on our Forest firefighters. They are the experts. They are putting their lives in danger, and they are working nonstop on this raging fire in the midst of the flames and smoke to protect all of us.
Today, on September 18th, this whole area is on fire.
We are watching the smoke and flames as they approach our home.
We could see the smoke from the fires on Milk Ranch Point as we drove down off the Rim into Pine.
We know that this rim of fire, ignited and controlled by the firefighters will protect our little town of Pine and Camp Geronimo.
Thank you, dear firefighters….you are some of the many heroes in our magnificent country. We are very grateful for all you and your families sacrifice for us. What you do is much more than a job. You make a difference in the world.
West Fire updates:
September 19th-20th: Camp Geronimo is surrounded by fire, but the firefighters have saved the camp….the grounds and buildings have been preserved.
Camp Geronimo is located inside the green island in the center of the fire.
How appropriate, that as we watch the smoke and fire approaching us each day—our Wordl word for September 20th was SMOKE:
How ironic that today is Pine’s annual 15, 30, and 45-mile “Fire on the Rim” mountain bike race….and today we have an actual fire on the Rim in Pine.
The plan for the next few days is that the firefighters will continue ignitions off the Rim on the west side of Milk Ranch Point—and down to the dozer line on edge of the town of Pine.
Late at night, on the 20th, we looked to the east toward the Rim from our back deck. We could see smoke, and see that the fire was approaching Pine.
In the middle of the night, with a full moon and rain on the way, the firefighters had started igniting the cliffs and hillside that extends down from Milk Ranch Point to Pine.
Here’s a photo of the West Fire the following night. It was taken from “downtown” Pine, just down the block from our cabin….
Firefighters continued to work to control the fire above Pine, as the sun rose over Milk Ranch Point.
Early Sunday morning, the 22nd of September, Dan and I hiked above our cabin on the Pine-Strawberry Trail. We could see the smoke from the West Fire that continued to burn on the hillside east of Pine.
In these photos you can clearly see that during the last two days, the firefighters have brought the fire all the way down from the top of the Rim to the edge of Pine.
Much of the smoke is settling in the little hamlet of Pine, but the wind is blowing most of the smoke from the West Fire south, filling the mountains and valleys towards Payson.
I took a video of the fire from the section of the hike that was about half way up Strawberry Mountain—in the Tonto National Forest on the west side of town.
At the end of the video, Dan pointed with his hiking pole to where our cabin is in the woods below us.
Later when we went into Pine, we could see how close the fire is to Pine—the fire and the smoke is right next to the homes on the east hill of Pine.
The Forest Firefighters are working in the midst of this smoke and fire!
Monday morning on September 23rd:
Monday evening as the sun was setting….the fire was at the east boundary of Pine.
September 24th:
Although the West Fire has been transferred to local management, it is still only 51% contained, and our town is still on an Evacuation Warning - Level 2 - SET Status.
This morning as we headed out to hike on Strawberry Mountain, we noticed that during the night ash from the fire had covered the ground and our car.
It looked like tiny snowflakes had gathered on our windshield wipers .
As we hiked on Strawberry Mountain, we could see the smoke that had settled in Pine below us. It reminded us of the fog in the bays and inlets early in the morning on Puget Sound around Whidbey Island, where we had lived several years ago.
Today the Evacuation Warning for Pine was finally downgraded to Ready from Set Status.
So we were a little surprised to see so much smoke AND flames as we drove up from the valley on our way back home to our cabin in Pine.
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