Flagstaff, AZ – Crews are mopping up the Potato Fire north of Flagstaff in the White Horse Hills area. Mop up work, which is reinforcing the containment lines and making sure all burning material is extinguished, will continue through tomorrow.

Size: Approximately 100 acres, with 70% containment.

Reported: Monday, October 19 at 2:30 a.m. by a local resident’s phone call.

Location: White Horse Hills – Potato Tank area, south of Forest Road 418; three miles east of the junction of Forest Road 151 and Highway 180. Most of the area burned is private land.

Resources on the fire today: Approximately 50 personnel, including two Navajo Scouts fire crews, two water tenders, and two engines.

Structures: Two vacant structures reported burned.

Agencies: Coconino National Forest, Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, Summit Fire Department, Highlands Fire Department, Flagstaff Fire Department, Arizona State Forestry Division.

Cause: Human caused. The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office is continuing their investigation, with assistance from the U.S. Forest Service. The fire may have originated from a camp fire that was left unattended or otherwise became out of control. 

Anyone with information regarding activity, suspicious persons or vehicles in the area of Potato Flats or Potato Tank during the late afternoon or evening hours of Sunday October 18, 2009 is urged to call the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office at (928) 774-4523 or 800-338-7888.