Hams supporting communications in Arizona forest fire
July 18, 2003 -- Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Emergency Service (RACES) volunteers have been providing communications support during the Kinishba Fire in the White Mountains of Arizona. Some 1000 firefighters are already battling the Kinishba Fire, now reported at some 20,100 acres and approximately 20 percent contained. Navajo County Emergency Coordinator Cris McBride, KB7QXQ, says Navajo County DEC and RACES Officer Dave Epley, N9CZV, is heading the Amateur Radio response, which includes two people per shift at three locations: A Red Cross evacuation Center in Snowflake, the Navajo County emergency operations Center in Holbrook and the Whiteriver Red Cross communications center. McBride credits Epley with working into the early hours of July 17 to set up repeater links so Red Cross personnel in Snowflake could communicate with their colleagues in Whiteriver. "Until that time, the Red Cross workers could not communicate effectively, as their cell phones would not work with the cell phone company's system out of Whiteriver," McBride said, adding that Whiteriver--the hub of the White Mountain Apache Tribe--sits in a "communication hole." Some 5000 Whiteriver residents were evacuated to safe zones on the outskirts of the fire area, but fire officials now have lifted the evacuation order. The fire remains some two miles from a trigger point that would result in further evacuations, however. Lightning ignited the fire on July 13. Arizona Gov Janet Napolitano has declared a state of emergency in Gila and Navajo counties.