The Pocket Fire is approaching full containment just as Arizona’s summer monsoon season arrives. So far, county officials are cautiously optimistic that the fire will not substantially increase the likelihood of severe flooding in Oak Creek Canyon. But until the Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team arriving this week completes its initial survey of burn severity, localized impacts will be difficult to predict.
“I’ve got people teed up to potentially take action, but right now it doesn’t appear that we’re going to have to mobilize like we did for the other areas,” Coconino County flood control district administrator Lucinda Andreani told the Arizona Daily Sun on Friday. (By ‘other areas,’ Andreani meant the Flagstaff neighborhoods downstream of the Museum Fire and Pipeline Fire which saw dramatic flash flooding in recent years.)
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