July 25, 2019
The Museum Fire is continuing to burn in the hills north of Flagstaff. (A map of the fire, created by NAU’s Geography, Planning, and Recreation department, can be found online.) NAU officials, notably the police department and emergency manager, worked closely with city, county and U.S. Forest Service officials to support partner agencies and residents in the communities most affected by the fire.
Volunteers are needed to help with sandbag operations. People can go to:
Coconino County Public Works Yard: 5600 East Commerce from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily behind the Public Works yard
Coconino High School: 2801 N Izabel St. from 8 am to 8 pm.
You can either show up to a sandbag site or sign up the United Way at www.nazunitedway.org or you can text volunteernow to 51555. You will be contacted with next steps after submitting through one of these methods.
Earlier this week, student-athletes volunteered to help fill sandbags for the City of Flagstaff and residents as rain approached and flooding along the burn scar became a concern, and NAU-TV live-streamed community meetings to help inform people who were unable to attend.
The university is prepared to host the public transportation system on its campus, use the campus buses to assist with evacuations and provide temporary shelter if needed.
“Thank you to everyone in our campus community who stepped up to help our friends, neighbors and colleagues in this time of need,” President Rita Cheng said. “We also are very grateful to the firefighters and emergency crews from our community partners for their work in combatting the fire.”
Those community members who have not signed up for emergency notifications, a system the county uses for evacuation and other notices during any emergency, can do so at coconino.az.gov/ready. Read earlier statements on the Museum Fire response.