Naturalist Helen Snyder of Portal was elated last week when the little community of Paradise was saved from the advancing Horseshoe 2 Fire, but dismayed to learn "a stretch of heaven" was lost in the high country of the Chiricahua Mountains at Rustler Park.
Rustler Park, at 8,500 feet, is a grassy meadow just off the trans-mountain road, where campsites and picnic tables are tucked under the tall conifers at its fringe.
It is a popular camping spot and a gateway to the series of trails that traverse the crest of the Chiricahua Wilderness Area.
Fire burned through it quickly last Thursday, leaping across the canopy of the tall trees, burning them "from the ground to the tip," said Dave Killebrew, spokesman for the third interagency team to fight this fire since it began on Mother's Day.
In the 33 days since, it has gobbled up 116,024 acres. On Wednesday, it was again threatening homes.
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A wind-driven firestorm tore through Rustler, said Bill Edwards, ranger in charge of the Douglas district of the Coronado National Forest.
The wind and the terrain created a crown fire that leapt along the tops of the trees. "It was hit hard," Edwards said. "It's not all gone, but a lot of it is."
In addition to the trees, the fire took out two latrines, a Forest Service bunkhouse, the nearby Barfoot Lookout and two private cabins.
The destruction at Rustler is the exception, said Edwards, on a fire that has been carefully steered to burn much more slowly.
There are plenty of places where fire burned with stand-replacing intensity, but the majority of trees will survive, he said.
Given time to heal, it will leave a mosaic of burned and unburned patches that Edwards said will "absolutely" still attract visitors.
The fire still burns, however, and its growth potential is still listed as "high." Nearly 1,000 personnel continue to fight it.
The wind continues to rip. Wednesday was another "red flag" day on the fire.
The fire continues to threaten homes in Whitetail Canyon on the northeast and on the west side of the range in West Turkey Creek, where a residence was destroyed Tuesday.
The Chiricahua National Monument, the Park Service's 11,985-acre "wonderland of rocks" on the west side, is evacuated and also endangered. Fire crossed previously established lines south of the monument and near the Whitetail Canyon homes Wednesday, said fire spokeswoman Karen Ripley.
Earlier in the fire, crews were able to protect the 32-or-so Paradise homes and the stores, lodges and scattered houses in Portal. The Southwestern Research Station is intact.
Contact reporter Tom Beal at tbeal@azstarnet.com or 573-4158.
