Forest officials warn Pocket Fire will be long‑duration; crews prioritize protecting Oak Creek Canyon

Travis Mabry, fire management officer for the Red Rock Ranger District, told the Sedona City Council on June 23 that the Pocket Fire—first reported Friday afternoon—has become a complex Type 1 incident and will likely remain on the landscape for an extended period. ‘‘This fire is going to be on this landscape for a very long time,’’ Mabry said, and stressed that protecting community values and crew safety guide tactical decisions.

Mabry and a Forest Service colleague, identified in the meeting as Alex, described how incident management teams organize operations (ground and air), planning, logistics and finance for large incidents. They said roughly 600 personnel and numerous aircraft and spike camps are assigned to the response, with the main incident command post at Fort Tuthill and spike camps including Sedona Red Rock High School and a northern camp near Mill Park.

Officials said aviation drops of water and retardant slow fire behavior but cannot, by themselves, extinguish large fires in steep, rocky terrain because heat and burning fuels sit beneath rock and in deep roots. ‘‘Aircraft simply in most cases cannot feasibly put the fire out,’’ Alex said; crews use aircraft to buy time while ground resources establish dozer lines and hand lines where it is safe to do so.

Mabry walked the council through initial attack actions: pre‑positioning helicopters and hotshot crews, construction of dozer line late the first night to prevent spread into Oak Creek Canyon, and targeted backburning to reduce fuels on the rim. He said much of the overnight growth was the main fire backing into upper Dry Creek; last night’s holding work, including retardant and dozer line, altered what could have been a far larger run.

Councilors asked whether highway 89A or other access points might be closed for an extended period; officials said closures are set conservatively for public safety and to avoid interference with response activity. The Forest Service will evaluate opening commuter traffic before recreational access and emphasized that any re‑opening must feel safe based on IR flights, fixed‑wing perimeter updates and drone/HELCO reconnaissance.

Officials also described monitoring tools available to the public and cooperators: public apps (Watch Duty and InciWeb) provide rapid information but sometimes misread heat in tall smoke columns; fixed‑wing perimeter flights, HELCO infrared cameras and UAS drones provide more precise perimeters. Mabry noted that a new incident management team will likely rotate in around July 4 unless conditions change.

The presenters said Oak Creek Canyon residents were repopulated after initial evacuations and that structure‑protection equipment is staged at Slide Rock State Park, but warned repopulation could be reversed if the fire advances. They asked the community to expect smoke and intermittent aviation for days and emphasized that decisions will be guided by modeling and safety for ground crews.

The council, staff and residents at the meeting thanked firefighters, federal and local cooperators, and volunteers; Sedona Fire District division chief Ed Missoula highlighted long‑standing operational relationships that allowed teams to mobilize quickly. The Forest Service said it will continue daily coordination calls with cooperators and hold public meetings in Flagstaff and in Sedona to brief residents and answer questions.