Boyce Thompson Arboretum: The Telegraph Fire

The Telegraph Fire began on Friday June 4, 2021 about 1 ½ miles south of Superior, Arizona which is 4 miles east of the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.  It is the seventh largest wildfire in Arizona’s history.  It closed the Tonto National Forest to all visitors from June 5 through July 8, 2021. The human cause has not yet been officially confirmed. It became 100 per cent contained in early July 2021 and smolders in the remote canyons until the recent monsoons have perhaps drowned it out dead.

The Fire consumed 180,757 acres or 282.433 square miles of desert. Fifty-seven structures, mainly homes, were destroyed.  The areas burned are not all contiguous.  In the photos you’ll notice low areas where the plants and ground were wet enough to survive have not been burned.  When it was burning and spreading there were over 100 fire fighters from the National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, State of Arizona Forestry and Fire Management and other federal and state departments wearing 50 pounds gear out on the line fighting the fire and many more back in the control center.  These fire fighters did get some time off.  Interestingly, some came with their crew to the Arboretum. They commented on how beautiful, how calm, quiet, and how peaceful it was. Without their efforts we wouldn’t be here, thank you.

What burns in the desert?  Buffalo grass, a native prairie grass used for lawns in hot, dry areas, is an aggressive and invasive plant in the Sonoran Desert.  While it makes a thick turf that seldom needs watering or mowing around a home, it is tinder that burns extremely hot, igniting native desert plants that normally wouldn’t burn, even big saguaro. It is easily ignited by sparks from a campfire, a muffler without a spark arrestor, dragging trailer chains, sparks from power lines, lightning, and many other behaviors that cause sparks and spreads quickly if one doesn’t call 911 soon enough.  While a lawn that is dry will go dormant until it receives rain or is irrigated, after a fire the buffalo grass comes back thicker and quicker than the native plants.

Planes from many places dropped retardant on the fire.  In the first 6 days two planes flew more than 35 missions and dropped more than 366,000 gallons of retardant.  They went to and from Mesa, AZ, which is about 50 miles west of Superior, as this is the only airport near the fire that could handle these large planes. There were also helicopters that used Ayer Lake, here at the Arboretum, to fill up with water.  Two of them flew in and out of the Arboretum at least 4-6 times an hour for several days. When the fire had left here those planes still went back and forth for quite some time. Seems we were on their flyway to the rest of the fire.

The fire retardant the planes drop is made of water, thickeners, and fertilizer – think borates and ammonium phosphates.  They work to cool down and wet down the fire fuels.  They are colored red, so pilots know where the retardant has been previously applied and so ground crews know where it has been applied. The components can release gases that are not good for people.

Many of the photos were taken along Arizona route 177 south of Superior.  This highway, US 60, and several other local and state roads were closed at various times depending upon where the fire was active near and or across the road.  As you’ll see, route 177 didn’t contain the fire, it just went right over the road and up the pass. 

Local communities fire departments, local, county, and state law enforcement, and local businesses like the mining companies also helped fight this fire and helped citizens.  The American Red Cross set up shelters where people who had to evacuate could go.  These shelters provide a cot, a pillow, a blanket, toiletries, cell phone charging stations, and three meals a day.

Here in Arizona during fire season there are three emergency stages for the public.  Ready, Set, Go.  Ready means be ready – have medications, documents, clothing, pet carries and food, whatever you think you’ll need to take with you gathered and ready.  Get out the hoses and wet down your roof and the plants and ground around your home.  Set means get that stuff you gathered into your vehicle.  Keep putting water on your roof and area around your home.  Go means evacuate, leave, NOW. I was lucky because there was about a half an hour for me to stow the few loose things in the trailer, unhook electric, hook up my trailer and drive west.  Some people were on Ready and then Set for half of the month this fire burned. It’s hard to live a normal life when some things are in the vehicle, some are in their usual places, and some have been gathered into a central place in the home. Oh, and remember to wet down the house before you leave for work in the morning and first thing when you come back in the evening. Most important though, take all those items with you when you leave your home for any reason, you might not be able to come back.

There were several parts of cities and smaller communities that were also evacuated. Some, like the fifth wheel next to me at the RV Resort where I went, had a home in Phoenix, so they went home.  Some went to shelters run by the American Red Cross or family or friends’ homes.  I am most thankful to the owner of the RV resort, The Arizonian.  When she heard I was volunteering at the Arboretum she said that my stay was free.  Yes, youbetcha I wrote them a thank you note.

While the perimeter of the fire is contained, there are still areas in canyons that will continue to smolder until there is enough rain to put them dead out.  Luckily, in the last week we had varying amounts of rain, from drops you could count on a blotter to pouring rain.  Monsoon season has begun. Perhaps this will bring a decrease in the wildfire danger for the state.

Part of the fire people’s work is restoration.  With the monsoons the potential for flash floods and landslides greatly increases so they work to decrease these threats and help local communities prepare.  If you’d like you can come to Globe and help fill sandbags for the community and its citizens. Already, with what rain we’ve had, some roads are closed due to flash floods causing washouts. Most damage seems to happen a year or so after the fire.  Roads near the burn scar of a 2019 fire have recently been washed out.

The fire people also evaluate the burned areas for regeneration. In some areas only the top portion of the soil is charred.  Many of the scrub brush still has its bark. The seeds in the ground are still viable. These areas will, with rain, if they don’t wash away, begin to green up and grow back. Some cacti still have green pads and can recover. The ash puts nutrients back into the soil.  Interestingly, saguaro which are burned retain enough water to bloom for several springs, even though the plant itself may be dead.

The experience has been interesting.  I’ve learned a lot about wildfires.  I’ve experienced emergency preparedness from the consumer/public citizen’s point of view rather than the volunteer coming in to help as I’ve been in the past.  I’ve learned how plants, soils, and people are resilient and recover.