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Romero Fire Nearly Contained: Operations Wind Down As Calm Winds, Air Tankers Give Firefighters Boost

Posted on: Thursday, 25 May 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Tim Ellis, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson

May 24--Firefighters scrambled along steep slopes on the western side of the Santa Catalina Mountains on Tuesday and with some help from air tankers nearly corralled the 740-acre Romero Fire.

Officials declared the blaze 85 percent contained Tuesday night and began sending crews and equipment home.

"Crews made excellent progress today," said Chris Wilcox, an official with the management team overseeing the fire. "Barring unforeseen events, we're predicting full containment by Friday."

Four 20-member crews were to be released today, including two of the 10 elite hotshot crews called in Monday after high winds pushed the fire into the Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area within three miles of the town of Catalina.

That's when the Type I incident-management team, which handles big, complex fires, was called in, said Jim Whittington, a spokesman for the team.

"Monday was a tough day for us," Wilcox said. "We had to shut down much of our air show" because of high winds.

Firefighters were able to slow the fire Monday afternoon after heavy winds subsided and aerial tankers were able to drop fire retardant.

But winds were calm Tuesday, allowing four helicopters -- including a large Sky Crane "heli-tanker" that carries 2,000 gallons of water or retardant -- to bombard hot spots within the fire zone.

The fire burned much of the western flank of Buster Mountain and Cathedral Peak to the east.

Wilcox said that because of Tuesday's successes, all firefighters were returned to fire camp at the Catalina State Park ranger station "to give 'em a good meal and a good night's rest."

Before operations began to wind down Tuesday, about 260 people, including four inmate crews from the Arizona Department of Corrections, had been assigned to the fire, he said.

The cost of fighting the fire, which was sparked by lightning Sunday, was estimated at $150,000.

Heidi Schewel, a Forest Service spokeswoman, said the Romero Fire was deemed a high-priority fire Monday because it was close to where people live and because of the wilderness area, which includes habitat for the desert bighorn sheep and other important plant and animal species.

Wilcox said fire officials are working with the Golder Ranch Fire District to help improve precautions against and response to fires in the rapidly growing area.

Residents who live in homes that have been built next to heavily vegetated areas that are bone-dry after years of drought should clear brush and take other precautions, because it's going to be a busy fire season, he said. "This should serve as a wake-up call," Wilcox said.

More inside --The Santa Catalina Mountains have been hit by two devastating wildfires in recent years: the 2003 Aspen Fire, which burned about 85,000 acres and destroyed most of the village of Summerhaven, and the 2002 Bullock Fire, which burned about 31,000 acres. A smaller but still major fire, the Oracle Hill Fire, burned about 2,400 acres in 2002. The Romero Fire is currently burning in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness Area near Catalina State Park. See map on Page B2.

--A two-alarm fire caused by gas leaking from a van being worked on at a car-repair shop caused $100,000 worth of damage. Story on Page B2

On Starnet --For more images from the wildfire and a reader-generated photo gallery of the blaze, check out www. azstarnet.com/wildfire

Reader-submitted wildfire photos: Share your best wildfire shots with us, and view other readers' contributions to this growing gallery. Submit photos.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Arizona Daily Star

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