Water services director: Pocket Fire burned ~26,000 acres but Woody Mountain well-house remained six miles away from fire line

Lee Williams, Water Services director, briefed the Water Commission on July 16 that the Pocket Fire had burned about 26,000 acres and at times approached municipal water infrastructure. Williams said the leading edge of the fire was approximately six miles from the Woody Mountain well-house, prompting crews to clear vegetation within roughly 50 feet of well buildings as a precaution.

Williams described operational steps taken to support firefighting crews: a signed use permit with Upper Lake Mary to allow water access (not ultimately tapped), opening a standpipe at the Lake Mary treatment plant to provide potable water to crews, and setting a meter at the Tuthill operations base to supply showers and sanitary services for personnel. He said BAER (Burned Area Emergency Response) teams and soil-stabilization work were underway to reduce post-fire erosion and debris-flow risks.

On reservoir levels, Williams said Upper Lake Mary was at about 19% capacity and gave a rough storage figure: "It holds about 5 or 5,300,000,000 gallons," which he equated in the meeting to a remaining volume of roughly 1,000,000,000 gallons at the stated percentage. He indicated the city can reduce pool to 14% without further approvals and can go below that with city manager approval. Williams and staff also noted recent generator testing and APS event performance had not interrupted water service.

The commission discussed proximity to high-voltage APS transmission lines, severity mapping and the use of firing operations to contain the fire. Williams said some projects (Marshall and Johnny's) and federal partner work were continuing as part of watershed protection and post-fire recovery planning. The commission received the update and thanked Williams for the report; no formal action was taken.