With our election profiles all printed, the city of Sedona’s budget all but complete pending a final vote on Tuesday, June 23, the summer monsoon still a short while off, kids out on break and much of Sedona quiet because of the summer heat, we went into Friday afternoon wondering what would be on our front page on Wednesday, June 24, other than early ballots going out this week and Father’s Day and the summer solstice both on Sunday, June 21. Perhaps a photo of the sun at high noon and a ballot dropoff box?

As our staff began packing up to go home on an otherwise quiet summer Friday, we got word that a wildfire had been reported about seven miles north of Sedona, just west of East Pocket, the high bluff above Oak Creek beyond a ridgeline west of the Junipine area.

Journalism is as much an in-born talent as it is a trained skill, so our news team kicked into gear, with reporter Joseph K. Giddens posting the first video about the fire from the newsroom in Uptown.

In addition to watching my kids, I assisted Giddens from home, gathering data from online sources about the fire response while being informed by government officials from our agencies who texted, emailed and called us with updates from those on the line and first-responders heading to the scene or responding in their capacities.

General Manager Kyle Larson, a pilot, sent us updates about aircraft arriving on location. The first to arrive were two fixed-wing reconnaissance aircraft — a Beechcraft King Air 250 twin-engine turboprop and a Rockwell Turbo Commander 690A — followed shortly thereafter by a Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter dropping water on hot spots. Within the first few hours, they were joined by a four-engine Lockheed C-130H Hercules, a British Airways Avro RJ85 short-haul aircraft and a British Airways 146-200A, all dropping red slurry. The biggest aircraft to arrive was a Boeing 737 jetliner. They were joined by two Boeing CH-47D Chinook twin-rotor helicopters picking up water in Bambi buckets from the Sedona Wetlands Preserve and water tanks atop the Coconino Plateau.

Like other Sedona residents, my kids watched the helicopters and planes flying overhead to pick up water and periodically refuel at the Sedona Airport.

To illustrate the firefighting efforts for readers, our Sedona photojournalist, David Jolkovski, went out Friday to shoot photos of the smoke from Schnebly Hill Road in Sedona and the fire from Seven Canyons west of the city, capturing some dramatic photos and video from the ground. On Saturday, June 20, Jolkovski went to the Sedona Wetlands Preserve to capture photos and video of one of the Chinooks picking up water. That day Giddens met with American Red Cross evacuation center staff who had set up at Sedona Red Rock High School, and met with the Forest Service.

On Sunday, June 21, after we headed back to Sedona from a Father’s Day lunch in Cottonwood, we saw one of the Chinooks coming into the wetlands to reload and pulled into the parking lot. Our 8-year-old and two 4-year-old twins thought the huge helicopter was very cool as it flew overhead, dipped a Bambi bucket and turned around to dump water on the flames, which we could see ahead of us on the drive back into Sedona.

Our staff was regularly posting updates, photos, maps, information and photos every few hours as the situation developed.

Residents of Oak Creek Canyon were under an evacuation order as of late Friday. Such orders are not mandatory, so those who remain in the canyon do so at their own risk, with the caveat that if they do leave the evacuation area, they are not permitted to return until the order is lifted.

Once the fire has passed and the evacuation order is lifted, Coconino County and U.S. Forest Service officials need to have a serious discussion with Oak Creek Canyon residents about future fires, considering many are frustrated with what they say is an overreaction. Getting tourists and visitors out of the canyon is necessary to make sure the roads are clear should the fire have crossed over the ridgeline, certainly. But a multi-day evacuation for a fire that seemingly poses no risk to an area which can be evacuated quickly due to open roads, and for which fire officials seem to have under control warrants a major reassessment.

The 4,317-acre Brins Mesa Fire in 2006 and 21,227-acre Slide Fire in 2014 posed far greater risk to their homes while burning in the canyon, these residents said, than the 300-acre Pocket Fire, burning on the other side of the mountain.

That said, Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon area residents are extremely thankful to all the firefighters, Hotshots, drivers, pilots, first responders and volunteers who have fought the fire, assisted crews and helped about a dozen evacuees who took advantage of the American Red Cross shelter.