SAFFORD — During his update at Monday’s Graham County Board of Supervisors meeting, County Manager Dustin Welker praised the numerous county departments and area agencies that came together to fight the Bryce fire in Eden.
“Our fire breaks were tested,” Welker said. “A couple of them didn’t work. One did finally work at the end, but when you have a 300-foot fire break and a 500-foot tall flame, the math doesn’t really work. And a 40-mile-an-hour wind; it jumped us a couple of times.”
Welker praised the efforts of the Sheriff’s Office and Search and Rescue in assisting residents and property owners in the area of the fire, as well as the Pima, Forth Thomas, Thatcher and Safford Fire Departments for their work in assisting the state Department of Forestry and Fire Management in fighting the fire.
He also said the Graham County Emergency Services Department was prepared with cooling centers and emergency shelters if the need arose.
The Bryce fire, which was discovered at about 7 p.m. May 7 in the river bottom, about 1.5 miles southeast of Eden and 7 miles northwest of Pima, reached a maximum size of 3,294 acres. As of 9 a.m. Monday, the fire is 85-percent contained.
The fire is believed to be human caused.
