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It was a warm, dry and windy beginning to the 2011 Memorial Day weekend in Arizona’s high country. Given these weather conditions restrictions had been put into place forbidding all open fires, including campfires. Little did I and my wife Claudia know of the promises of God that we would be standing on for the next several weeks as the Wallow Fire exploded in the midst of these fire perfect conditions to become Arizona’s largest wildland fire ever!

We made an early but brief trip to our cabin located at an elevation of 8,500 feet in the Arizona village of Greer to drop off items we would be needing for our stay that summer. We had to return to our fulltime home in the Dallas/Fort Worth area so I could travel to an annual industry conference being held in Las Vegas on June 1st before returning to Greer once the conference concluded.  Greer is (as of 2018) listed by Wikipedia as being the 5th highest city in the United States and has been in our family for nearly 50 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we were making our way back to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area two Arizona cousins established their Memorial holiday weekend campsite near the Bear Wallow Trailhead, which is also located in the White Mountains of Arizona, near Hannagan Meadows, south of Greer. Later some referred to their decision to start a campfire on May 29th, in the midst of the hot and windy conditions, as being a “lapse in judgement”. Their campfire quickly spread outside of its containment area, giving birth to the Wallow Fire. The Wallow Fire ultimately scorched approximately 538,000 acres in northeastern Arizona, or more than 841 square miles, 1/3rd the size of Yellowstone National Park, before firefighters were able to declare it fully contained on July 8th. The cost to subdue the fire ended up being more than $79 million dollars. It destroyed 36 structures and at one point forced nearly 10,000 residents to be evacuated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On June 1st I boarded my flight from the DFW airport to Las Vegas to attend the annual industry event while the Wallow Fire continued to devour huge chunks of the Northeastern Arizona forests. Throughout the conference I was unaware of how large the Wallow Fire had become until receiving a phone call on June 6th while walking to the conference venue at the Mandalay Bay conference center from my step-sister. She informed me that Greer was being evacuated.  Even though she isn’t a believer I advised her that the entire matter was in God’s hands, and that His will shall be done.

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I stopped to speak to the pilot of the Boeing 757 aircraft as I boarded my flight to return to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area on June 7th. I explained to him that we owned property in Greer, the small town in Arizona that was evacuated the day before and that I would be grateful if he could fly closer to Interstate 40 on our return route so I could have a better view of fire. I-40 is located just south of the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff. The typical route from Las Vegas to the DFW airport usually closer to the Grand Canyon, or nearly 100 miles further north.  During the flight, without any fanfare or special announcement, I noticed that we were flying East along I-40 as I had requested! The smoke from the fire was so thick that it wasn’t easy to see how close to Greer the fire had gotten.  

                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The one thing that was apparent by the smoke plume was how ferocious the winds were.  I prayed fervently for protection over Greer during the entire flight back to DFW. During my prayers I had repeated visions of multiple hands praying over the Greer Valley as others also were praying for God’s protection of Greer against the rapidly approaching fire!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

That night was incredibly stressful as we could only watch a picture of the approaching smoke coming down the East Fork Little Colorado River canyon from a webcam located near the Molly Butler restaurant in downtown Greer (see actual footage below).

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On June 8th the Wallow fire reached Greer. Unfortunately no official information was being reported out of Greer. That notwithstanding I continued to receive calls from well meaning but non-believing relatives claiming to know that a firestorm had raced through Greer, wiping it out. Given our not receiving credible and timely information I “stomped” around my upstairs office in North Texas asking for God’s protection over the Greer Valley searching His word for His promises to counter all of the negativity we were receiving. I was stunned when, while randomly flipping pages looking for His promises, my bible fiipped open to Isaiah 43:1-3, as His words to us were absolutely specific to our situation:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
3 For I am the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; (Isaiah 43: 1-3)

With tears welling up in my eyes due to how faithful God is to those who believe in Him, I very loudly and repeatedly claimed this promise...all the while still “stomping about”! In 1 Samuel 3:11 the LORD proclaims to Samuel that “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle”.  Over the years of praying to God I would experience “tingling” along my spine when I was in accordance with God’s will for my life and for my prayers. As I was claiming the Isaiah 43 promises my spine was tingling like crazy!!
 
Later that evening one of our Greer neighbors who had been evacuated  advised that her husband, one of the volunteer Greer firefighters, had himself been evacuated from the front lines of the fire. As the firefighters were being pulled out of the Greer Valley he told her that he observed flames racing down the Amberian Point very near our homes, likely destroying their home. Given their proximity to our cabin if their home were destroyed, then ours likely would have been too.  

Following my conversation with my neighbor I located a Google Maps option that allows one to utilize real time satellite images look for heat signatures thus tracking where a fire is or had been. I let her know later on that I could not locate any heat signature near either their home nor ours but also cautioned her that the data available to us, although supposedly current, could have been delayed. However, at least there seemed to be some hope contrary to the “doom and gloom” we had been receiving from the many “naysayers”!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 


 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thursday, June 9th began full of trepidation as there was absolutely no news regarding the status of Greer. Someone posted on the internet that a traffic helicopter from Phoenix CBS affiliate Channel 3 had been sent up to Greer to survey the damage given this lack of information, and that they would be broadcasting live once they arrived. I was able to locate the link to the live feed and quickly called for Claudia to join me in my office as it was already past the time scheduled for them to begin the live feed.

As the broadcast began the helicopter journalist advised that they had arrived to the Greer Valley 30 minutes earlier but could not proceed until just now given how thick the smoke was. We continue to believe that our Father God had kept the valley closed to the helicopter that day until we had been able to access the live feed so we could behold His mighty answer to our prayers!

As the helicopter entered the Greer Valley from the north he apologized in advance to those who might see destruction that they weren’t prepared to see. We were encouraged to still see green forest at the north and west sides of the valley, although the view of the Amberian Point and both east and west river canyons remained obscured by the heavy smoke (see actual helicopter image below)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

The first close up view shown by the pilot was of the remnants of one of our neighbor’s house on the East Fork that had been destroyed by the fire. It was shocking to see a portion of their roof that had been blown up into a tree given the ferocity of the fire storm (see below image taken from the ground)!
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The helicopter hovered over the burnt remains of our neighbor’s cabin but then, as he turned to the right, Praise God, we could see the white roof of our cabin, as well as the roofs of our neighbors, including the roof of our firefighter neighbor’s roof, still intact and unharmed (see actual footage below)! Our prayers had been answered!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t until June 20th that the local officials declared it safe enough to lift the Greer evacuation order. Shortly thereafter many Greer property owners began their pilgrimage back to ascertain what clean up would be required. Most expected to find spoiled food, as the electricity had been turned off for weeks, and given that the southern end of the valley had been covered in thick smoke for many hours, it was likely that many would also return to some degree of smoke damage that would need to be remediated.

We have to drive through the small towns of Springerville and Eager to return to Greer. It was surprising to see how many smoke/fire remediation companies we observed as we passed through heading up to Greer. This was a reminder to us that even though Father God had kept the fire from taking our cabin there was a definite possibility that we too should expect to find smoke damage when we arrived given that our cabin was located near the dense smoke (see actual image of the Greer Valley at that time below ) and we too have gable vents present in the attic area that allow air exchange in the attic; i.e. to allow the attic to “breathe” but would have also allowed the heavy smoke to enter our cabin!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

On the drive on highway 260 up to Greer from the Springerville/Eager area the charred the hillside was a stark and sober reminder of what had just happened. As we approached the turn off to Greer, which is still approximately 5 miles from the center of Greer, we were pleased to still see quite a few green pine trees.  

However, as we drove into the downtown Greer area, it was frightening to see how charred the eastern canyon wall was. The east facing side of the Amberian Point also seemed to be completely decimated.  We feared for the safety of Montlure, the Presbyterian affiliated summer church camp which is nestled back in the east fork canyon, just below the Amberian Point devastation that we could see, as they had to have been directly in the path of the firestorm.

Many smoke/fire remediation companies were at work in Greer as we drove through the town to get to our cabin. As we parked we again gave thanks to the Lord for sparing our cabin. We then unlocked the doors and stepped in to explore the extent of our smoke damage.

What we found was stunning; by the grace of God there was ABSOLUTELY NO smoke damage!  Not even a hint of smoke smell, not even up in the attic! We exited the cabin by the back door, went down the steps of the deck and got on our knees to again thank our Lord for His benevolence!  After cleaning out the spoiled food we decided to take a walk toward Montlure to see what was left even though what we could see from a distance didn’t look too encouraging.

Prior to the fire one could always tell once you had entered the Montlure property because as you cleared the gate, if you looked to your left, you would be greeted by their white cross. When we looked left this time, past the charred ground and trees, we could see the white cross without any visible scars, and even surrounded by some unburnt trees (see below)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Our next destination was toward the center of Montlure where their main buildings were located, which we again fully expected to see burned and surrounded by charred earth given that the entire forest around it had been decimated (see below).

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, once again our Father God, who had stilled the stormy waters of the Galilee and caused hailstones to fall onto the Egyptians from a clear sky, again showed us who is in control of our world, as the main buildings were intact AND, they were surrounded by green grass, not charred earth (see below image from that day)! God had not allowed the firestorm to ravage the main camp and even protected a buffer of some green pine trees and living aspen trees even though devastation was all around! It was quite inspiring to say the least!!

 








 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greer continues to heal from the effects of the Wallow Fire and although the evidence of the devastation that occurred in 2011 is easily seen, new growth is abounding everywhere (see below from September of 2018).


 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This has been our witness and we continue to stand on His truth and promises!

Revelation 19:16
16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.

Steve and Claudia Williams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Wallow Fire Testimony Outside Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest_United_States_cities_by_state
https://hikearizona.com/map.php?QX=769
https://hikearizona.com/dex2/viewtopic.php?t=6212&start=40
https://www.trails.com/us/az/apache-sitgreaves-national-forests/bear-wallow-trail-63
https://hikearizona.com/dex2/viewtopic.php?t=6402&start=40
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=arizona+wallow+fire&t=ffab&ia=web
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallow_Fire
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2016/05/28/wallow-fire-rebirth-regrowth-greer-arizona/85004078/
https://wildfiretoday.com/2011/06/09/wallow-fire-burns-through-greer-arizona/
https://tucson.com/news/the-wallow-fire-a-look-back/collection_c7ffbdde-ce81-11e0-a525-001cc4c002e0.html#10
http://maptd.com/before-and-after-aerial-imagery-of-the-wallow-fire-arizona/
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/arizona-wildfires/4/
https://www.wmicentral.com/news/latest_news/greer-residents-to-return-home-today-wallow-fire-contained/article_4105ee0c-9b00-11e0-8150-001cc4c002e0.html
https://itcoop.wordpress.com/2011/06/03/wallow-fire/