Latest Updates on Backbone Fire

We have ended coverage of The Backbone Fire on this blog.  Sinclair's T1 IMT PIOs are doing a truly outstanding job providing narrative and graphical information to the public.  We urge those interested in The Backbone Fire to pay attention through each day to a wide variety of information resources.

Be sure to use the "hashtag" method of checking both Facebook and Twitter.  Use "#BackboneFire.  On Twitter, be sure to click "Latest", otherwise you will simply see the most popular Tweets, not the most recent.  Most metro media coverage shows up on either or both Facebook and Twitter.

In addition to Inciweb, please also check the official Backbone Facebook pages.  Often more timely information is posted on the incident's Facebook and it is likewise somewhat easier to find than on Inciweb.

Most sources covering The Backbone will use the hashtag in their own posts so you can keep track of what everyone is posting.  For those living in the Camp Verde area, please pay particular attention to the Facebook account of the Copper Canyon Fire & Medical District.

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7545/

https://www.facebook.com/BackboneFireInfo

https://www.facebook.com/CopperCanyonFMD

We wish to THANK all those who came to read this blog.  As of 9 AM Thursday, blog visits totaled 21,541.  We're happy we were able to provide information other people may have found useful.  THANK YOU.

All of our wildfire coverage, including occasional updates on The Backbone will once again be here:

https://www.facebook.com/WildFireReports

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Tuesday's single update as well as Monday's & Sunday's updates remain below. The Friday and Saturday Backbone Fire Updates were archived as of 5:45 AM, Sunday, June 20, 2021.  They are located here: https://backbonefire.blogspot.com/2021/06/archived-updates-for-backbone-fire.html 

All Update times listed are Arizona Time.

Update #1 @ 9:30 AM

The Wednesday Morning Sit Report shows The Backbone Fire now has 39 Engines assigned, up from 28 yesterday, seven the day before and a mere two the day before that.  That's an increase of 37 engines in 3 days.  There are now 12 crews assigned along with 5 helicopters. A total of 590 personnel are on the incident roster, up 148 from yesterday.

For the latest updates on The Backbone see:

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7545/

Update #1 @ 10:50 AM

Due to personal circumstances we are about four hours late with our initial update today.  Updates will be fewer today because we are also covering The Rafael Fire.

The Backbone Fire grew to 37,296 acres yesterday as measured by the overnight NIROPS flight. There are 442 personnel assigned, up 188 from the previous day.  A large increase in Engines was noted in the Tuesday Morning Sit Report: 28 versus the previous day of 7 and a mere 2 the day before that. Six helicopters are working the incident, as well as a changing variety of fixed wing aerial resources.

The key developments are these: 1) The Backbone remains west of Strawberry as crews continue to build and strengthen defensive lines; 2) Crews ignited a large burnout operation along SR 260 and SR 87 to create defensible space should The Backbone reach The Mogollon Rim and advance into heavy fuels; 3) Fossil Springs itself remains unburned; and 4) The Backbone remains away from Wingfield Mesa and Verde Lakes Estates along West Clear Creek.

A excerpt from today's official update appears below the following photos clipped from Joseph Elfelt's fine GIS product from @MappingSupport.

See:
https://twitter.com/MappingSupport/status/1407321218202492935

The orange dots on the right show the extent of the burnout operation.

Fossil Springs is in the blue circle.  Strawberry & Pine place names are underline in red.

As the north nose of The Backbone edges farther, it is worth noting approximately where the heavier fuels begin to become more numerous. (to right of Blue Line.)  Sandrock and Calf Pen Canyons are the two upper ephemeral tributaries of Fossil Creek.

On the western front, The Backbone has totally burned over Hackberry Mountain (Blue Circle) and is now on the north side of Bull Run Creek.  The biggest areas of concern are shown in the red triangle with the red circle able it.  The triangle shows the grasslands of Wingfield Mesa.  The linked circle shows Verde Lakes Estates which is inside Camp Verde Town Limits.  Camp Verde downtown is shown in the upper red circle.

Below in quotes is the most relevant section of this morning's official update on The Backbone:

"Last night, fire personnel began a firing operation starting at the intersection of state routes 260 and 87 near the communities of Strawberry and Pine. Crews plan to spend today holding and improving this line. Firefighters and equipment continued to construct and improve the community protection line around Strawberry. Structure protection crews worked to protect values at risk and assess hazards in the communities of Strawberry and Pine. Crews were inserted into Hardscrabble Canyon to construct direct line on the fire. On the west side, the fire continued to advance slowly to the northwest, reaching the vicinity of Brown's Spring on the Verde River. Residents of Camp Verde and nearby communities will continue to see the fire follow this pattern of growth for the next several days while firefighters establish containment lines to stop this growth. Crews are working along State Route 260 to prepare for continued burning operations. Aircraft will be used to keep the fire east of the Verde River and to slow forward advance wherever they can be effective. Dry conditions persist, allowing for active to extreme burning conditions."

-------------------------
Monday Updates are below.

-------------------------

Update #3 @ 6:45 AM

The Backbone Fire gained 73 personnel yesterday and a total of 324 are now assigned to the incident.  One additional crew, five addition engines and another helicopter are now involved in fire management operations.  The Backbone is said to exhibit "Extreme fire behavior with short crown runs, wind-driven runs and long range spotting."  The Backbone is listed at the top of the Monday Morning Sit Report which indicates it is top priority for the Southwest area.  The Backbone's cost estimate rose by slightly over a million dollars and now totals $1.8-million.

Source: https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf

Updates #2 @ 5:50 AM

According to Joseph Elfelt's early analysis of NIROP's overnight infrared flight, The #BackboneFire grew another approx. 12+ square miles yesterday and now stands at 32,757 burned acres. The bulk of that gain appears to have been on the west side of the incident.  

Source: https://twitter.com/MappingSupport/status/1406934903900438537

Elfelt's analysis of the NIROPS data has been extraordinarily accurate through the duration of The Backbone Fire.

Here is the full scope of the Backbone as viewed when the NIROPS overflight occurred. 

The Backbone has not yet reached Strawberry.

Hackberry Mountain's peak is circle in blue. The old volcano is a prominent landmark in the Lower Verde Valley.  The fire advanced west of Hackberry and began to encroach into Bull Run Creek.

Update #1 @ 5:30 AM AZ Time

NWS Flagstaff issued today's Fire Weather Forecast at 4:38 AM Monday.  Afternoon winds are forecast to gust into the 20's.  The Haines is at its max value. A Haines Index of 6 means a high potential for an existing fire to become large or exhibit erratic fire behavior.

Source: https://www.weather.gov/wrh/fire?wfo=fgz (Click on Zone 118.)

Sunday's updates below dashed line.
-------------------------------------------

Posted @ 2:30 PM AZ Time

The winds are quite probably a factor in today's Backbone Fire behavior.  We watch remote data sites at the Verde Ranger District in Camp Verde; The Payson Airport and the Pine RAWS.  The red numbers on the wind speed columns of these graphics indicate peak gusts for each time period.

Screen clips from a classic video of Aero-Flite's CL-415 Super Scooper 261 refilling at Bartlett Lake.

Source: https://twitter.com/erinshieldscoy/status/1406469037421379584

CL-415s work in pairs for reasons we will describe in an upcoming separate post.  Note 261's wing-mate at time of red arrow.  These refills were unusual because the CL-415s had to do a slight course correction while still on the water.  Watch the video closely and you can see it.

Here's 261 slightly after lift off from the water passing right by the houseboat.

Talk about tight maneuvering!  WOW!

Posted @ 1:30 PM AZ Time

Judging from these photos by Neil Weintraub, it appears The Backbone Fire's southern sector may have become very active around noon.  The cloud in the photos could well be a pyrocumulus cloud.  Thanks, Neil, for sending these along.  We will soon calculate an approx. distance between your POVs and the southern sector of The Backbone.

Posted @ 6:45 AM AZ Time

The Sunday Morning Sit Report shows personnel assigned to The Backbone Fire increased by 156 yesterday to a total of 251.  There are seven crews, 2 engines and three helicopters assigned. Yesterday's acreage was used for the report. Containment is zero and July 15 continues as estimated date of containment.  Cost is said to be $750,000 but can be expected to rise substantially when expenses of aerial attack are entered into the incident ledger.

The epic Telegraph Fire near Globe appears to be winding down so it is possible that some of the resources assigned there will soon be redirected to The Backbone.

Source: https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf

Posted @ 5:50 AM AZ Time

The Backbone Fire grew another approx. 7,000 acres yesterday and burned area now stands at 24,175 acres. The northeast sector fire line remains west of Strawberry.  On the southwest sector of the Backbone, flames burned over both The Towel Peaks and Hackberry Mountain.  A trusted, credible source in Camp Verde told us: "We can see the fire on the Towel Peaks and Hackberry, just crawling down the mountain toward Wingfield Mesa."

Elfelt's interpretation of the NIROPS overflight data is always extraordinarily accurate.  Yesterday his estimate was less than 20 acres from the eventual IMT analysis. 

Source: https://twitter.com/MappingSupport/status/1406591974027632650

This is a view Elfelt produced of the overall incident.

Here is a close up of The Backbone's proximity to Strawberry. Aerial resources focused heavily on Strawberry yesterday.

This is a closeup clip of Hackberry and The Towels.

Backbone Fire coverage

The purpose of this blog is solely and specifically to provide readily accessible coverage of The Backbone Fire, currently burning in a remote area near the geographical center of Arizona. As of Friday morning, June 18, 2021, please consider this blog a "work-in-progress" as we attempt to implement a format that will be easy for readers to work with.

 This blog is not affiliated with, connected to, endorsed by or otherwise associated with any local, state or federal public safety agencies.  Likewise, it has no connection to any fire fighting entities.  The content of this blog is the sole product and responsibility of John Parsons, a private individual unaffiliated with any public safety agency or entity.

Some content on this blog is and will continue to be gleaned from official sources.  In such cases, the source(s) for such information will be provided.

The primary official source for The Backbone Fire and other wild land fires is Inciweb:

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7545/

Fire management officials may also use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to inform the public about aspects of The Backbone Fire.  We will soon prepare a blog post listing all such known social media venues relating to this incident.  If you have comments, corrections, suggestions or requests regarding this blog, please address your concerns to: johnparsons@gmail.com

Backbone Fire location

 

The red push pin shows the initially reported location of The Backbone Fire. The incident named due to its proximity to a prominent topographical feature called "Ike's Backbone."

This clip from an ACME Mapper topo map shows how Ike's Backbone is a substantial ridge that separates the final stretch of Lower Fossil Creek from the Verde River.  

The yellow line shows The Backbone Fire's relative proximity to Strawberry, Arizona, roughly 12 miles distant. We will soon have a much more detail look at both Fossil and Hardscrabble Creeks and their topographical relationship to Strawberry and Pine, Arizona.

The photo above was provided on Inciweb and the source is linked below.  The general point-of-view is to the north.  Here are our own numbered annotations to the official photo:  1) Ike's Backbone; 2) Fossil Creek Canyon; 3) Deadman Mesa; 4) Verde Hot Springs camping area near former Childs community and 5) Phos-Check retardant lines laid down by either T168 or 169 on June 17.

Photo source: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/photograph/7545/0/113264

Backbone Fire Weather

 Weather conditions shape fire behaviors of any given wild land incident.  We will pay close and ongoing attention to The Backbone Fire Weather.  As of Friday morning, June 18, several key factors will influence Backbone Fire behavior.

First, of course, is temperature.  The Pine-Strawberry area recorded high temperatures in excess of 100 degrees during the past two days.  Fuel moisture is generally in the low single digits.  The Haines Index today is a 6, its highest level.  Although winds are generally light, occasional gusts have been notes into the low teens.  Meanwhile, dry thunderstorms are possible today with gusty outflow winds and potential cloud to ground lightning strikes.

The Backbone Fire is located at the interface of  "Fire Weather Zones" 118 and 137.  We have chosen to watch Zone 118 as we believe it is more representative of incident conditions.

The graphic above shows the various boundaries of Fire Weather Zones.  The red circle indicated the approx. are of concern regarding The Backbone Fire.  Below is the Friday morning NWS Flagstaff forecast for Zone 118 which is to the right of the red circle.

Here's how to access the forecasts.  First go to this page:

https://www.weather.gov/wrh/fire?wfo=fgz

Next click to zoom in on the boundary between Zones 118 and 137.  Click on the approx area of The Backbone Fire and and a detailed text forecast will appear.

You may be able to use this link in lieu of the above:

https://www.weather.gov/wrh/fire?wfo=fgz&LAT=34.3887&LON=-111.6622

 

Backbone Fire Camp

Alan Sinclair's Type 1 Incident Management Team will be based in The Camp Verde Middle School. This will produce increased fire-related traffic on Main Street and Pecan Lane.

Camp Verde Middle School is a near perfect venue for the large IMT about to begin operations there.

UPDATE @ 6:45 AM Saturday--Fire Camp will be in The Camp Verde Middle School.

--------original post below--------------

Local sources have indicated to us that The Backbone Fire Camp might be established on some semi-developed Camp Verde public park land shown by the large red circle at right.  The small red circle at left if the Prescott National Forest Verde ranger District compound.  The red box at top shows the location of the 19th Century US Army post that is the namesake for Camp Verde.

As of late Friday morning, the park land area is closed but there are no indications that a camp is being erected there.

The Town of Camp Verde Parks & Recreation Department posted the following notice on their Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/cvparksandrec/posts/1846038602232944

"NOTICE! Effective immediately the Sports Complex on Champion Trail, including the Perimeter Loop Trail, is closed due to US Forest Service operations in support of the Back Bone Fire. A large and growing wild fire has started in the Ike’s Back Bone – Fossil Creek area south of Camp Verde. Initial attack helicopter operations are planned for the Sports Complex for at least the next few days. In order to ensure the safety of air crews, firefighters and the public the Sports Complex is closed to the public until further notice as helicopters land and take off. The fire is anticipated to grow and require the utilization of a large Incident Management Team which may result in changes to the planned operations at the Sports Complex. Public questions about our closure should be directed to Parks & Rec at (928)554-0820 option 3. Wild fire information is available through various USFS websites and other wild fire information sources on-line." Photos by Steve Ayers

The Backbone Fire Crews

Wild Land Fire Fighting is a Team Effort. Successful containment and control of a wild land fire often requires hundreds of people working together under Incident Command toward common goals and objectives.

Throughout The Backbone Fire's progression, we will attempt to mention as many of the crews that are assigned as we can find information regarding them.

The first crew we learned was assigned to The Backbone Fire is the Del Rosa Hot Shots.  They were formed in 1946 amid some of the earliest days of Hot Shot crews.  You can read their history and see crew photos dating back 60+ years here:

https://www.delrosahotshots.com/

Grayback Forestry Crew 8B is listed as assigned to The Backbone Fire.  Grayback is a private-sector service provider and you can learn more about them here: https://www.graybackforestry.com/

The Teton Suppression Module is now listed as assigned to The Backbone Fire.  You can learn more about the crew here:

https://gacc.nifc.gov/gbcc/dispatch/wy-tdc/home/2018-05-04/wildland-fire-module

Backbone Fire Smoke

 ADEQ has begun monitoring The Backbone Fire smoke plume.

ADEQ said, "There are PM-2.5 (smoke) monitors in Camp Verde, Payson, and Sedona, with additional monitors being set up today in Pine and possibly Happy Jack. This morning, light smoke and haze have been noted across the Verde Valley from this wildfire and others (Telegraph and Pinnacle) burning across the state.

Smoke later this morning into the afternoon is forecast to disperse toward the north-northeast, with light to periods of moderate smoke impacts possible in Pine, Strawberry, Happy Jack, and the Blue Ridge area this afternoon.

There is a continued chance of thunderstorms along the Mogollon Rim, which could push strong gusty outflow winds through the fire (mainly from the east of northeast) this afternoon. These winds could result in smoke moving in any direction.

Overnight, smoke is forecast to drain northwest into Camp Verde and possibly into Payson. Smoke that moves over the Mogollon Rim in the afternoon may also drain back into Pine and Strawberry overnight. Smoke is forecast to lift by 930 am Saturday morning.

Tomorrow, stronger westerly winds are in the forecast, with smoke dispersing toward the east-southeast, with light to moderate impacts once again to areas in/around Payson, Pine, Strawberry, and the rest of the Rim Country.

SOURCE: https://www.azdeq.gov/node/7077?fire=backbonefire

Backbone Fire remote sensing via satellite

 The two primary means of "remote sensing" for wild fires are overnight infrared overflights and data deceived from satellites.  The MODIS & VIIRS satellite data is used by a wide variety of fire managers to understand the complexity and scope of any given incident.  

Joseph Elfelt (@MappingSupport) is one of the finest private sector GIS interpreters of  satellite data that we know.  His work is outstanding and consistently accurate.  Elfelt added The Backbone Fire map online today.  He notes that the satellite data is at least 3 hours old.  Fast moving, dynamic wild fires often change dramatically by the hour.  Therefore consider the data shown in Elfelt's map to be a "point-in-time" glimpse of The Backbone Fire earlier today.

Here is a link to the Tweet excerpted as a screen clip below:
https://twitter.com/MappingSupport/status/1405914150446854146

We enlarged Elfelt's map for a closer view shown below.

Eric Shreve is always one of the very first to post satellite data for Arizona wild fires.  He is part of the Fire Mappers network.  Here is a link to a website explaining the unique crowdsourcing aspects of Fire Mappers:
https://twitter.com/MappingSupport/status/1405914150446854146

Source: https://twitter.com/EshreveAZ/status/1405684128373121027  and #FireMappers

Archived updates for The Backbone Fire

The Updates for Friday and Saturday are archived below.  They were archived at 5:45 AM Sunday, June 20, 2021.

Posted @ 2:45 PM AZ Time

The wind has picked up at the Verde RAWS data site located near the Prescott National Forest Verde Ranger District office on SR 260.  The Remote Automated Weather Station (RAWS) recorded a gust of 24 mph between 1-2 PM today. The base wind speed is 14 mph and wind direction is now from the southwest, as you can see by clicking the link below.  The Pine RAWS is showing winds have been gusting into the teens and low 20's since before noon.

The link below takes you to a global wind website.  We zoomed in to the very approx. location of The Backbone Fire.  The map covers such a large region, it doesn't matter much to narrow it down to a specific site.

https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-109.84,32.45,5018/loc=-111.581,34.498

Posted @ 1:50 PM AZ Time

Both VLATs, T911 and T914 are working The Backbone Fire today.  Their most recent retardant drops were on the southeast sector of the incident.

Posted @ 1:40 PM AZ Time

It now appears there will be two fire camps--one in Camp Verde and one in the Payson.  Crews are already stockpiling fire fighting supplies at the Camp Verde Middle School.  Making Thanks to Steve Ayers for checking into the Camp Verde scene and sharing this photo.

Posted @ 11:55 AM AZ Time

T40 made a drop on the south end of The Backbone Fire just before noon today.  The John D. Hall photo of T40 is from The Telegraph Fire, NOT The Backbone.  It is used here to show T40 in action. See full credit below photo.

Tanker 40 - a BAe-146 Large Air Tanker (LAT) from Neptune Aviation Services Inc - begins a retardant drop aimed at protecting the Boyce Thompson Arboretum from the #TelegraphFire near Superior, AZ on June 7, 2021. See more photos and order prints at jdhimg.com.  Flight Aware tracking below.

Posted @ 10:30 AM AZ Time

The Backbone Fire Public Information Officers are up and running and beginning to roll over detailed information to the untold thousands of people concerned about the incident.

The PIOs created both a Facebook and a Twitter:

https://www.facebook.com/BackboneFireInfo

https://twitter.com/backbone_fire

Posted @ 9:07 AM AZ Time

Three additional IHCs (AKA: Hot Shots) have been assigned to The Backbone Fire: Flagstaff, Globe and Sacramento. Four additional Type 2 Initial Attack crews were also assigned: Bear Jaw, Grayback 5A, Grayback 7C and PatRick Environmental 20B.

Posted @ 8:25 AM AZ Time

Looks like VLAT T914 flew a mission on The Backbone Fire during Friday's fading daylight. Flight tracking data shows the DC-10 working an area south of Deadman Mesa in the Hardscrabble Creek area near The Backbone Fire's ignition point.  We presume this mission was to stem progress of possible spot fire east of the main incident area.  T911 also flew a mission to this area shortly before T914's. Please note captions below photo and graphics.

John D. Hall captured this rare view of a LEAD plane guiding T914 in for a drop on The Telegraph Fire.  This picture is NOT from The Backbone Fire but this is what it would look like as the LEAD flies in front of the VLAT.  John's caption to this photo states: "Tanker 914, a DC-10 Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT) from 10 Tanker Air Carrier, moves into position behind Lead 5 for a retardant drop on the western flank of the #TelegraphFire near Superior, AZ on June 7, 2021. Visit jdhimg.com to see more of my photos and order prints."

Pine and Payson are to the right of the area where T914's mission was directed late yesterday.  Fire bombers can only work during the daylight hours for obvious safety reasons. T914 took off from Mesa-Gate at 7:35 PM and landed back at IWA about 8:16 PM MST.

The flight tracking data shows a time stamp three hours later than AZ Time.  The retardant drop is typically at the lowest elevation shown in the log.  Note that T914 reached 5,050 feet.  The top of Deadman Mesa is 4,567 feet so T914 was within about 500 AGL of nearby topography.

Posted @ 8:05 AM AZ Time

The Morning Sit Report lists the estimated date of containment of The Backbone Fire as July 15.

See: https://www.nifc.gov/nicc/sitreprt.pdf

Posted @ 7:52 AM AZ Time

Here is the most recent Fire Weather update for The Backbone Fire's Zone 118 location from NWS Flagstaff.  The Haines dropped down to a 5 today but returns to its max of 6 tomorrow.  Yesterday's Haines of 6 was certainly an accurate indicator of how the fire progression played out. A Haines Index of 6 means a high potential for an existing fire to become large or exhibit erratic fire behavior.

Source: https://www.weather.gov/wrh/fire?wfo=fgz

 

Posted @ 7:50 AZ Time

Looks like the PIO Staff from Sinclair's T1 IMT "might" be operational.  There was an update of The Backbone Fire Inciweb page a few minutes ago. The acreage was updated as well as the Incident Contact phone number.  We presume this is the first of what will be many updates of the Inciweb pages today.  https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7545/

Posted @7:15 AM AZ time

As expected and even forecast by ADEQ, The Backbone Fire smoke settled overnight into the Verde Valley.  This photo by Michael Durgain was created this morning in The Cottonwood, Arizona, foothills beneath Mingus Mountain looking in a northeasterly direction.

Posted @ 6:30 AM Arizona Time

Alan Sinclair's Type 1 Incident Management Team began mobilizing yesterday and is expected to begin operations today with a base in the Camp Verde Middle School.  The above photo of Sinclair was obtained from his LinkedIn account.  We will have more details later today.  Once Sinclair's Team is up and operating, we expected to see early and frequent updates of The Backbone Fire's Inciweb page:

https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/news/7545/

---Posted @ 6:15 AM, Arizona Time

Overnight infrared data collected by a NIROPS overflight around midnight appears to show Strawberry, Pine and Fossil Springs untouched by The Backbone Fire.  Of course, that overflight is simply a "point-in-time" snapshot of the incident's scope.  The data showed The Backbone had burned 17,114 acres, up from 1,200 the previous day.

Many THANKS to the always accurate Joseph Elfelt (Twitter = @MappingSupport) for his interpretation of the NIROPS data.

In the annotated graphic below, the left circle is Fossil Spring, the middle circle is Strawberry and the right circle is Pine.

No surprise here...The only surprise is what took then so long for this closure....  The latest credible rumor is that the Baker Butte Fire Lookout has been evacuated.  We are awaiting official confirmation of that rumor.  One The Backbone gets up into the tinder dry pines, it's Off To The Races!

Source: https://twitter.com/ArizonaDOT/status/1406055042625413121

---------------

From near Payson...

Source: https://www.facebook.com/PaysonRoundupNewspaper/posts/4186566624719791

---Posted @ 5:40 PM Arizona Time

The Backbone Fire has officially grown to 6,000 acres, just a a few shy of ten square miles.  Meanwhile the latest Inciweb update indicates 100 personnel are assigned to the incident, up from 14 at last report.

According to John Henz...

Source: https://twitter.com/papahenz_wx/status/1406033672331882496

---Posted at 4:50 PM

Supposedly this is The Backbone Fire pyro cloud as seen from Fountain Hills.  If this is indeed a valid photo, that would seem to indicate the pyro cloud reached an elevation of approx. 50,000 feet.

Source to come as soon as we can refind it.

---Posted @ 4:30 PM

Source: https://twitter.com/ArizonaDOT/status/1406029872074432514

---Posted @ 4:15 PM

Source:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=4285346684857900&id=641987809193824

---Posted @ 3:26 PM

Source: https://twitter.com/ai6yrham/status/1406006734301237252

---Posted @ 3:10 PM Arizona Time

According to Matt Pace, The Backbone has gone "pyro."  What does that mean?  Well, it means the fire consumed such a large enough amount of fuel ion such a short time that it threw up what's called a towering "pyrocumulus" clouds.  Such pyro clouds often make their own weather and can act much like a blacksmith bellows to amplify, enhance and speed the spread of a fire.

Source: https://twitter.com/MattPaceWeather/status/1406009448494075905

---Posted @ 2:50 PM Arizona Time

Source: https://www.facebook.com/Gila-County-Sheriffs-Office-641987809193824

---Posted @  2:30 PM Arizona Time

Source: https://twitter.com/Strawberry_AZ/status/1405993376214781955

---Posted @ 1:50 PM, Arizona Time

The Backbone Fire Inciweb was updated at 1:37 PM Friday to state that it has burned 3,500 acres, an increase of 2,300 acres from previous reports.  The update also said: "The fire has a high rate of spread, but no long range spotting."  The update lists 14 personnel as assigned.  However SWCC's online data would seem to indicate at least 50 personnel are fighting the fire.  Sinclair's T1 IMT has not yet assumed management of The Backbone Fire.