Southwest Area
Incident Management Team
Incident Commander: Dan Oltrogge
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Picture Incident
Tonto National Forest
June 2003

News Release

For Immediate Release
June 27, 2003 8:30 am

The Picture Fire Is Fully Contained

The Picture Fire suppression effort has gone very well and full containment was attained Thursday evening. Crews have constructed and strengthened line around the entire fire and will continue with rehabilitation efforts in disturbed areas for the next few days. Residents who had been evacuated have returned to their homes. The Picture Fire was human-caused.

The fire burned a total of 12,529 acres in the Tonto National Forest. At the peak of suppression efforts, 1,032 people were involved. Resources on the final day of containment included 22 crews, 4 helicopters, 14 engines, 4 dozers, and 6 water tenders. No structures were lost and no serious injuries occurred on this incident. Demobilization of crews, heavy equipment, water tenders and dozers began on Thursday. Demobilization will continue as resources are reassigned to other fires in the region.

Recreational sites, boating sites and roads in the Roosevelt Lake area remain open; however, the
Cholla Campground is closed to the public while it is being used for fire operations. Extreme fire danger conditions are still present throughout Tonto National Forest. Please use caution while visiting the area and respect all fire restrictions, smoking restrictions and closures that are in place.

The Southwest Area Incident Management Team Incident Commander Dan Oltrogge said, "with the support of cooperating agencies and the patience and cooperation of local communities, suppression operations during the Picture Fire were extremely successful. On behalf of the Southwest Area Incident Management Team, I want to extend our gratitude to everyone who assisted us."

For more information, contact Fire Information Center at 928-479-3164. Information center hours are
7 a.m. to 8 p.m. today. The Information Center will close down after 8:00 p.m. tonight. Please note that this will be the last news update on the Picture Fire from the Southwest Area Incident Management Team.

Visit the Forest Service website: www.fs.fed.us/r3/fire


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