CIBECUE – According to a social media post from BIA Forestry & Wildland Fire Management, Fort Apache Agency, the Cibecue Mill Fire began near the old Cibecue sawmill on April 21st. When the fire broke over the creek on April 23, the power supply had to be turned off to avoid dangerous conditions. Since the wells were not supplied with electricity, there was a shortage of water.
The Police Department of the Apache Tribe of the White Mountains warned citizens that firefighters were working aggressively to contain the fire. They asked residents to use alternative routes such as South Cooley Road due to the location of the fire, and asked non-residents to avoid the community.
Chairwoman Gwenda Lee-Gatewood announced on her Facebook show on Saturday morning that the bulldozer managed to take control of the fire on April 23 and said it was included in that area.
“Everything is being mopped in this area, but the sawdust is slow to burn,” said Lee-Gatewood. “They have our resources, and I just want to thank the Bashas grocery stores and Latter-day Saint Church of Jesus Christ for their half truckload of water for the ward.”
Church missionaries helped distribute the water on April 23rd. “
On the same day that BIA dealt with the Cibecue Sawmill Fire, they also handled the Snake Creek fire near Sunrise Junction caused by a power line and the Amos Wash fire caused by a faulty catalyst has been.
Lee-Gatewood said she wanted to thank the Tribal Fire Department, Timber Mesa Fire and Medical, Navajo County, and various other agencies who had worked all night and days to contain the roughly half-acre fire.
Adding Public Works, Land Operations, WMATCO, all Tribal Departments, Chief Mark Tessay and his crew, the Police Department, the staff at the Cibecue Complex, and Donna Cooley and Councilors Arnold Beach, Sr. and Travis Tessay, Sr. to their list of Lee- Gatewood, who helped fight the fire, said, “It says a lot about how everyone came together. Many Thanks.”
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