{"id":21546,"date":"2025-07-04T22:14:28","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T22:14:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/update-oak-ridge-fire-grows-to-more-than-10712-acres-is-13-contained\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:07:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:07:15","slug":"update-oak-ridge-fire-grows-to-more-than-10712-acres-is-13-contained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/update-oak-ridge-fire-grows-to-more-than-10712-acres-is-13-contained\/","title":{"rendered":"Update: Oak Ridge Fire grows to more than 10,712 acres, is 13% contained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Oak Ridge Fire, located 8 miles southwest of Window Rock, was reported at 200 acres on July 28, with no containment and has grown to 10,712 acres at 13% containment as of July 3. (Navajo Nation President Facebook)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Oak Ridge Fire, 8 miles southwest of Window Rock, has spread to more than 10,712 acres, with 13% containment, according to Navajo Department of Emergency Management.<\/p>\n

The fire was reported June 28 at 200 acres and grew to 10,712 acres by July 3.<\/p>\n

High winds June 30 night pushed the Oak Ridge Fire toward the Klagetoh substation on Transwestern Pipeline Road in Klagetoh and Wide Ruins, Arizona.<\/p>\n

The Navajo Nation continues to use the \u2018Ready, Set, Go\u2019 system to inform residents of evacuations.<\/p>\n

\u201cReady\u201d status means residents should prepare to evacuate, and \u201cset\u201d advises residents to prepare to leave as soon as notified. \u201cGo\u201d means evacuate immediately.<\/p>\n

As of Friday, July 4, The Navajo Nation, in coordination with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Navajo Region and Southwest Complex Incident Management Team 2, has restructured evacuation on Zone 1 and Zone 2 to facilitate a return to residences.<\/p>\n\n

The Complex Incident Management Team, made up of federal and state wildfire agencies including BIA, state of Arizona and state of New Mexico, took over Oak Ridge Fire, took over management of the fire on Monday.<\/p>\n

About 609 firefighters were on the scene July 3, according to a Navajo Nation news release.<\/p>\n

The fire was initially reported by a Navajo Nation Police officer, who advised that two individuals of interest had been identified, according to the news release.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were wood haulers cutting fresh oak,\u201d the news release said. \u201cThe fire started small but quickly spread due to the wind.\u201d<\/p>\n

While a massive evacuation order has not been issued, 15 families living in the fire\u2019s path have evacuated themselves on June 29, according to the Office of the President.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Oak Ridge Fire is an emergency that is threatening our rangelands, public and residential structures, and livestock. We\u2019re receiving reports of residents choosing to stay in their homes even as evacuation alerts intensify. We ask all community members to not act in haste and to prioritize their safety given the growing fire,\u201d said Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley.<\/p>\n

The Bee H\u00f3\u0142dzil Fighting Scouts Events Center in Fort Defiance is considered the official evacuation shelter for families where donations can be dropped off.<\/p>\n

As for donations to the event center and Ganado Field House Evacuation Shelter location, the Office of the President has reported a changed to a \u201cHARD STOP\u201d for donations except for hay and pet food for livestock and pets.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, July 2, the Office of the President gave warning to fraudulent pages requesting for monetary donations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the ongoing efforts of the Oak Ridge Fire, there have been a number of GoFundMe pages purporting to collect funds to help with fire efforts,\u201d said a release from the Office of the President.<\/p>\n

The Navajo Nation or the Incident Command Center has not asked for any monetary funds and the government will not ask for funds, the office said.<\/p>\n

The Navajo Department of Emergency Management is moving to recovery status as there is more control on the fire which means they do not need immediate donations, according to the Office of the President.<\/p>\n

On June 30, 23 individuals found refuge at the events center and volunteers are needed to monitor overnight stays for the evacuees.<\/p>\n

\"According
According to the Office of the President, there are 420 fire personnel on the scene at the Oak Ridge Fire, located 5 to 8 miles southwest of St. Michaels. (Navajo Nation President Facebook)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"According
According to the Office of the President, there are 420 fire personnel on the scene at the Oak Ridge Fire, located 5 to 8 miles southwest of St. Michaels. (Navajo Nation President Facebook)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Families and the public are being asked not to self-deploy and urged not go near the fire zones by the Office of the President.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur top priority is the safety of our people,\u201d Navajo Nation President, Buu Nygren, said. \u201cWe are coordinating with all available resources, including the Department of Emergency Management, Navajo Nation Fire, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to contain this fire and protect lives and property. Please keep our people, our responders and our homeland in your prayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Oak Ridge Fire ICP will hold a public meeting at Window Rock High School on Monday, June 30, at 6 p.m. to review evacuation plans and safety alerts.<\/p>\n

The Oak Ridge Fire Incident Command Post has also established a public call center for updates and inquiries. For more information, please contact the ICP at (505) 422-7382.<\/p>\n

The volunteer help line is (505) 422-7381.<\/p>\n

\"A
A photo posted on the Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren Facebook account shows the expanding Oak Ridge Fire that was first reported by the Office of the President on Saturday. (Navajo Nation President Facebook)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President declares a state of emergency and enacts Stage 2 fire restrictions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1240,1222,155,799,28,1241,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-21546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-aztec","tag-bloomfield","tag-education","tag-farmington","tag-headlines","tag-kirtland","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21546"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77356,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21546\/revisions\/77356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21546"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=21546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}