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Tuesday, July 29, 2025

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Oak Ridge Fire fully contained, but flooding and infrastructure risks loom

Oak Ridge Fire fully contained, but flooding and infrastructure risks loom

ST. MICHAELS, Ariz.

Though the Oak Ridge Fire is contained, St. Michaels now faces a new and urgent threat: severe post-fire flooding, unstable hillsides, and ongoing recovery challenges.

Oak Ridge Fire fully contained, but flooding and infrastructure risks loom

Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
A wildland firefighter with the Navajo Scouts fills a sandbag with local soil as part of erosion control efforts on Saturday, July 19. Crews reinforced fire-damaged terrain to prevent sediment runoff during summer rains.

With over 11,000 acres burned – 9,000 acres inside St. Michaels – the community now confronts destabilized hillsides, clogged culverts, and a looming risk of flooding as its greatest post-fire dangers.
Karen Halona, who lives in the path of one of the most vulnerable drainages, described how close the danger came to her front door.

“It came up to the front porch step before,” she said. “If burn scars make it flood like it has in other places, it’s gonna be really scary.”

Her home now stands shielded by concrete jersey barriers and a line of sandbags installed by the Burned Area Emergency Response Team, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Navajo Scouts.

“I’ve never expected anything like this,” Halona said. “I’ve never had any help like this, and they were so nice – all of them.”

Oak Ridge Fire fully contained, but flooding and infrastructure risks loom

Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
Crews place sandbags in a fire-damaged arroyo near Oak Ridge Wash on July 19. The work is part of an emergency stabilization effort to prevent flooding and sediment flow during monsoon season.

St. Michaels Chapter President Gabriel Freeland confirmed that most of the fire’s footprint fell within chapter boundaries and commended the mitigation work underway.

“I think the key part for us as a community and as the leadership is to make sure that we’re not only preparing, but we’re mitigating,” he said. “We are definitely thankful that they’re making the effort and the time to deal with all that.”

The Oak Ridge Fire, detected June 28 and contained by July 16, spared major structures, but left behind environmental damage that threatens severe flooding for St. Michaels and downstream communities.

To read the full article, please see the July 24, 2025, edition of the Navajo Times.

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About The Author

Donovan Quintero

"Dii, Diné bi Naaltsoos wolyéhíígíí, ninaaltsoos át'é. Nihi cheii dóó nihi másání ádaaní: Nihi Diné Bizaad bił ninhi't'eelyá áádóó t'áá háadida nihizaad nihił ch'aawóle'lágo. Nihi bee haz'áanii at'é, nihisin at'é, nihi hózhǫ́ǫ́jí at'é, nihi 'ach'ą́ą́h naagééh at'é. Dilkǫǫho saad bee yájíłti', k'ídahoneezláo saad bee yájíłti', ą́ą́ chánahgo saad bee yájíłti', diits'a'go saad bee yájíłti', nabik'íyájíłti' baa yájíłti', bich'į' yájíłti', hach'į' yándaałti', diné k'ehgo bik'izhdiitįįh. This is the belief I do my best to follow when I am writing Diné-related stories and photographing our events, games and news. Ahxéhee', shik'éí dóó shidine'é." - Donovan Quintero, an award-winning Diné journalist, served as a photographer, reporter and as assistant editor of the Navajo Times until March 17, 2023.

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