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Welcome To The

Sonoita-Elgin Fire District

Sonoita Fire in need of volunteers – Click Here to Read Story

Scheduled FY2017-2018 Board Meetings:

September 24, 2018
AGENDA FOR SEPTEMBER 24, 2018

FACEBOOK FEED

Sonoita-Elgin Fire District added 6 new photos.

6 hours ago

Prevention Day at Elgin School....

SEFD personnel participated in Fire Prevention Day on Friday, October 19, 2018....

Students were given instructions on Look, Listen & Learn as well as being introduced to a fully outfitted firefighter... hopefully it will help to allay their fears in the event that something unforeseen was to happen in their future, they wouldn't be as frightened of crews dressed in the bulky firefighting clothes.

Students also learned about the vehicles and watched crews put one of Elgin School teachers on a gurney as part of the demonstration.

Crews stayed with the students & enjoyed yummy pizza for lunch. ... See MoreSee Less

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Sonoita-Elgin Fire District

3 days ago

WooHoo!!! We're fully booked for the Red Cross Blood Drive!!!

THANK YOU! ... See MoreSee Less

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Sonoita-Elgin Fire District

5 days ago

Blood drive.. we still have two appointments available for Sunday, Oct. 21.... 9 am and 1 pm... if you're interested, please call 520-455-5854. Thanks. ... See MoreSee Less

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Sonoita-Elgin Fire District

5 days ago

American Red Cross... please get the word out that due to the hurricanes we are desperate for blood right now, we are projected to begin the winter critical season down 50,000 units from last year. There is also a projected shortage across the nation through all blood providers. So whatever you could do would be so helpful.

Thank you to everyone who has scheduled to participate in the upcoming blood drive on Oct. 21... If you would like to donate blood outside of the regular blood drive, please contact the Red Cross. ... See MoreSee Less

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Sonoita-Elgin Fire District

3 weeks ago

It's coming up faster than you think....... ... See MoreSee Less

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Fire/EMS Stats

2018
APRIL
MVC	3
Medical	22
Wildfire	4
Structure Fire	0
Vehicle Fire	0
Public Assist	2
Burn Permit	0
Hazmat	1
TOTAL	32

View Fire/EMS Stats Archive

Major Arizona Incidents

Platypus Fire (Wildfire)
on October 16, 2018 at 9:54 pm
As of 10-5-2018: The Platypus/Rhino Fire is a Type IV Incident with Keith Halloran as the IC. Discovery date: July 28, 2018 Cause: Lightning Tactics: Full suppression Location: Approximately 6 miles northwest of Sedona in Red Rock Secret Mountain Wilderness. (Lat/Long: 34.94291, -111.8701) Current size: 5,744 acres Containment: 100% Resources: Three personnel assigned Predicted smoke impacts: Smoke is not being seen. Will evaluate over the next 72 hours.Current closures: None. […]
South Zone Rx Fire (Prescribed Fire)
on October 15, 2018 at 4:56 pm
Fire managers on the Kaibab National Forest have completed plans for the 2018 fall prescribed fire burning season and will begin working on a range of projects this month. The specific units to be ignited will be chosen based on fuel moistures and weather conditions that are within prescriptive levels that meet fuels reduction objectives. The flowing project areas are planned for treatments on both the Tusayan and Williams Ranger Districts: Sunflower Rx Project: Southeast of Williams, approximately 12,000 acres. Green Base Rx Project: North of Williams near Three Sisters, approximately 7500 acres. Reed Rx Project South and northeast of Tusayan, approximately 3200 acres Russell Rx Project Southeast of Tusayan, approximately 4000 acres Ignitions have been temporarily halted on the Sunflower Prescribed Fire Project through the week ahead as moisture is forecasted to arrive into the area. Over the past three days, 6100 acres have been successfully treated to date.Outflowing moisture... […]

Sonoita-Elgin Fire Season – 2017

Over the past few months the Sonoita-Elgin area has been experiencing a lot of wind-driven wildfires, some small and some large. There have been a few questions asked about tactics used to fight the fires…this is not an easy question to answer in print. First, I would like to state the Sonoita-Elgin Fire is a suppression Department; our objectives are to protect lives, structures, and grasslands.

Sonoita-Elgin (& SEESI) has, for the past few decades, used an Anchor and Flank Method. This is where we start at the heel of the fire (the origin) and flank both sides of the fire, suppressing the fire as we move toward the head. This is the most effective method on most fires. If you approach a fire from the head you still have two active flanks coming up the sides, this in turn will leave you with two fires heading in two different directions. There are times you may see us ahead of the fire setting a back burn or pre-wetting off a road or drainage etc., as was used on the Kellogg Fire. The complications that arose during the Kellogg Fire were too much smoke and heat. Our units could not see but a few feet in front of themselves, making it extremely difficult to virtually impossible to use this technique with the winds (as we have all experienced recently) pushing our fires.

The U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Arizona Department of Forestry & Fire management do not do structure protection. They will try to ring fire around homes if they have ample time. Sonoita-Elgin Fire will protect structures as long as the structures are defensible, and we have the equipment to do so. Wildland trucks carry 300 gallons of water and a 65 gallon per minute pump; a structure engine carries 1000 gallons of water and a 750-1200 gallon per minute pump. It is very hard to protect a structure with a brush truck. And, if we leave the station to suppress a grass fire (taking wildland equipment) and it runs on to structures it’s harder to protect them. So a lot of the time we will back out until the fire passes then we go back in and reassess. Most structures (homes) burn down after the fire passes, outbuildings will burn as the fire front passes – which is why being FireWise pays off. (Most outbuilding do not have doors [embers can get inside] or are not well kept up. Fire gets drawn into a building that has easy avenues for air movement. Tall grasses, weeds, trees and shrubs against structures create pockets of fuel that can be dangerous.)

Sonoita-Elgin Fire District is asking all property owners – homeowners and ranchers – to continue to FireWise their properties – this is not simply protecting your land and structures, it is helping your neighbors. We are a ranching community and these folks make their living with the grassland we all enjoy. The ranchers cooperation is as vital to help prepare their lands around areas were grasslands could be a threat to other structures.

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