Cody Fire nearly half contained as firefighters work blaze north of Tucson

As the temperatures cooled and the winds relaxed in the early hours of Sunday morning, residents in Oracle woke up to learn that in just 24 hours, firefighting crews had brought the Cody Fire from 5 percent containment to 47 percent

The fire which ignited on Wednesday, May 21 has been burning the northern end of the Santa Catalina Mountains, a part of the Coronado National Forest. 

Southwest Incident Management Team 4 has led a crew of more than 500 personnel in an effort to contain the 1,223-acre fire. The blaze has not advanced much this weekend, but pockets of fire were still burning within the perimeter.

The goal for Sunday was to mop-up the fire and create 66 feet of separation in multiple areas throughout the fire area, said fire team spokesman William Dudley in an online video briefing.

While unburned fuel pockets could still ignite, they would be within the contained areas and do not pose a threat to ongoing efforts, officials said.

Catalina State Park was reopened to the public Sunday, after being used as a headquarters for fire crews.

With the recent progress, only the residents of Pinal County evacuation zones 17 and 18 remain on a level 3 evacuation notice, while zones  5, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 19 have been set to a level 2 notice. 

Evacuation orders remain in place to ensure public safety and residents are encouraged to have an evacuation plan in case of sudden changed circumstances. The Western Fire Chiefs Association states it is “critical to understand the different evacuation levels in case you need to leave your home at short notice.”

Evacuation centers can be found at:

• Canyon Del Oro High School, 25 W. Calle Concordia, Oro Valley
• Mammoth Community Center, 101 W. 5th St, Mammoth

Officials urged that people avoid the areas around the fire this holiday weekend to allow fire crews to continue to work to contain the blaze.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and more updates are expected at the community meeting scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday at Biosphere 2 (32500 S. Biosphere Rd., Oracle). The meeting will be live-streamed on the Coronado National Forest Facebook page.