(Edited July 27, 2019)

On Sunday July 21, I turned on my two radios to monitor the 146.980 (- 162.2) repeater on Mt. Elden and the 146.780 (- 91.5) repeater on Bill Williams mountain as I normally do. On Sunday I did not expect much as traffic is normally light. To my surprise, I heard Janice KI6WCK announcing that the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) in Flagstaff was active and the Coconino Amateur Radio Club (CARC) Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) was providing communication services.

The ARES group was providing backup communications in support of a fire that was being called the Museum Fire. I listened to monitor the situation for a few minutes. When it was clear they were asking for volunteers, I volunteered. This is, after all, what we train for. I could not drop everything and run up that day. So I volunteered for Monday. I contacted Joe W7LUX who is the District Emergency Coordinator for Coconino County. He needed someone late in the day Monday so I volunteered.

There were other things happening on Sunday. Amateur radio operators responded to the call to tow the CARC antenna tower trailer and the communication trailer to the EOC. Others brought coaxial cable that was needed. Some came to help set up and relieve Janice. It was a busy day.

The trip to Flagstaff for me is about 80-miles round trip and about two-hours travel time. Arizona Department of Transportation is currently doing repairs on the highway in both directions east- and west-bound on I-40. So that was another thing I had to contend with.

I packed my emergency dual-band antenna and mast in my car and an extra power supply in case it was needed. I carried them to Flagstaff every time I went up.

When I arrived in Flagstaff, I was actually stunned by the magnitude of the fire. To make matters worse, the fire was in an area called Shultz Pass that had a fire years ago. This caused flooding when it rained. Fortunately Coconino County had been working on the problem long before this fire. There was some flash flooding because of rain on Tuesday—according to NOAA radio—but it did not damage any private structures, as far as I know.

The big concern was whether or not the fire would reach the repeaters at Devil’s Head on Mt. Elden. I was impressed that the CARC trailer was set up for its intended purpose of emergency communications. The CARC antenna trailer had been set up and Ken KF7DUR had a VHF and UHF emergency repeater set up in the trailer in case the worse happened.

We were also able to maintain communications with the Bill Williams Mountain Club repeater in Williams. The 146.780 (- 91.5) Bill Williams repeater is also attached to Echolink. Under normal conditions, I’ve met some new Hams coming in on Echolink.

By the end of the day Monday, it was clear that there was less danger to the repeaters. Things slowed down and Erv KE7QFI conducted the Skywarn net.

On Tuesday I had an appointment at the VA in the morning, so I went to the EOC right after. I did not expect to, but I wound up staying until they secured ARES for the day. In the morning, the Southwest Area Type I Incident Management Team 2 took over management of the fire. What that means, in layman’s terms, is that this was a serious fire. The terrain was rugged and aircraft had been bombing the fire with water since the fire began.

The big news (though not over the amateur radio airwaves) was that Governor Doug Ducey was going to come to the EOC to sign the Declaration of Emergency for the Museum Fire. They had podium, flags and chairs set up for the purpose. He did not arrive at the scheduled time. It turns out he went into the field. He did,however, show up at the EOC later and took time out to thanks us for our work. He also patiently took time so we could all snap a picture with him.

After he left we returned to duty. The monsoon rains started. They were relatively light but seemed to help slow the fire a bit. Surely it helped cool off the fire fighters. The problem was that there was now a flash flood warning until 7 p.m. People were given the opportunity to get sand bags for their homes. At about 5:30 p.m., I checked NOAA radio and it was reported that a flash flood was crossing Paradise Road and heading toward the community of Sunnyside. It was reported by Skywarn observers that the flash flooding carried ash and debris from the fire. I did not hear of any damage to homes. After 9.5 hours I went home.

On Wednesday I returned to the EOC at about 12:45. The fire was still going as was the EOC. I did notice that there was considerably less smoke. I received a surprise visit from an amateur radio friend, Ian, who was a fire fighter on the TYPE I team that was sent in to manage the fire. He got to see just what ARES does.

Wednesday is the regular ARES net. I remembered to take my computer, but forgot to take a copy of the roster and even the script. So I had to text Ron KG7OH to email me a copy of those items. It was an interesting experience running the net from the EOC. I made it more interesting by playing with the buttons on the radio and forgetting to re-set it back to the proper settings before the net. I was familiar with the Yaesu radios, so it was no problem getting it set properly and conducting the net.

I simply could not return on Thursday due to personal reasons. I still monitored the radio, of course. On Friday I monitored fully prepared to respond if needed. I learned, however, that ARES was being de-activated at 10 a.m., but that the EOC was still being staffed over the weekend. So we are still “on call,” though we are breaking down the CARC equipment tomorrow.

Overall it was an interesting experience participating in an actual ARES activation. It was more interesting because this was such a major emergency. I met new Ham operators both on the radio and in person. It gave me a chance to learn to interact with the different groups in the EOC.

The EOC provided plenty of food and snacks. In fact on Tuesday they provided an Italian cuisine with spaghetti, Parmesan chicken and the works. Of course, no Italian menu would be complete without Chinese fortune cookies. They had a box of them. This was one of my fortunes: