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August 1, 2003/Av 3 5763, Vol. 55, No. 49
Fires burn too close to home
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
U.S. Forest Service officials say that the continued drought situation in the West will affect this year's fire season.
Photo courtesy of Jewish National Fund
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While most Phoenicians watch footage of the state's summer fires on the local news, one Phoenix couple shared the experience with their northern neighbors.
On the Saturday night over the Fourth of July weekend, Pat and Jeff Levin - along with four houseguests and a dog - evacuated their summer home near Prescott after spotting smoke from a nearby fire.
"We saw the fire from our property and it appeared to be less than a mile from us," Pat Levin says.
The group evacuated the home and met other permanent and part-time residents of the Walker community in a Costco parking lot, where the Sheriff's Department had set up a command center.
Evacuees listened to updates of the fire through a communications center and were shown to a shelter at a nearby community college, although the Levins ended up staying with friends whose homes were out of the danger area.
"It appeared that all of that was set up within 30 minutes of the first sighting of the fire," Levin says. "It was really impressive."
Fortunately, no structures were destroyed in the fire; much different than the outcome of the Aspen fire near Tucson, where fire consumed 333 structures on 84,750 acres between June 17-July 12, according to the Coronado National Forest Web site.
Levin said she was very impressed by the actions of the forest service and firefighters in the Walker community. "They were extremely prepared and they were on the fire before we even got out of our home and out of the area," she says. "The communication that they provided in letting people know what was happening was impressive. ... They were very on top of things."
Although the presence of wildfires would seem to be as unlikely in the city of Phoenix as a hurricane, three wildfires were caused by lightning that struck the Tonto National Forest on July 24. Between the three fires, more than 1,000 acres burned about 25 miles northeast of Phoenix.
Levin says she now has a list of what she would do differently.
"I think that I would have prepared a bag of necessary items just to pick up at the door and leave with" - items like pet food, walkie-talkie radios and water. "I know those have been recommended things and I now take that to heart," she says.
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