July 26 Grapevine and Racetrack Fire Evacuation Update

You may be aware there are two fires in the area close to each other, both caused by lightning strikes. The Grapevine Fire started on Friday July 21, and the Racetrack Fire started on Sunday July 23. We shared much information yesterday and want to ensure you didn’t miss any of it. Here is an update on the Fire evacuation information:

Regarding the Grapevine Fire, we sent a GO message mid-day for Whitehorse Ranch. This means fire personnel are actively working in the area, and residents are asked to evacuate their properties. By early evening, all residents had been contacted personally by our volunteer personnel. YCSO personnel will remain in the area to provide security during firefighting operations. We also sent a SET message to Mingus Springs 4-H Camp and Neighboring residents informing them to be prepared to evacuate the area. These statuses remain current for these areas as of this morning. Efforts are being taken to keep a close eye on the Yaeger Canyon Mine and Mingus Mountain Academy areas.

The more positive news for the day regarding the Racetrack Fire is that we rolled back the GO message to SET status for the Community of Cherry and Federal Mine Rd Area. This means the area is no longer under mandatory evacuation allowing residents and emergency personnel (only) back into the area.

When it comes to evacuations and how the decision is made to evacuate an area, it’s a comprehensive and thoughtful process with close and constant communication between fire teams and YCSO. We take evacuations very seriously and many factors come into play most importantly the safety of the community and emergency responders. We ask, that when you receive an emergency notification of a Go status or a knock on your door from YCSO to evacuate, you recognize that you should leave for your safety and the safety of the firefighters. With that said, don’t forget to register for the Yavapai County Emergency Notification System, Everbridge here: Yavapai County Emergency Notification - Sign Up (everbridge.net) to receive notifications of an incident you may be affected by in your area.

YCSO Incident Commander Lt. Scot Joy will be providing a live-stream Facebook update this evening at 6pm. Visit:  www.facebook.com/yavapaicountysheriff

For all information regarding the Fires, Evacuations, etc. the resources below are available:

-Accounts to follow for this and future wildfires and incidents:

Yavapai County Emergency Management View the Yavapai County Emergency Information Hub here: https://bit.ly/3rGqmO2

-Yavapai County Sheriff's Office

www.YCSOAz.gov for Evacuation information

-U.S. Forest Service - Prescott National Forest for Detailed Fire information, including fire behavior, direction, and containment.