Rock slide on Haulapai Mountain blocking fire evacuation route

KINGMAN, Ariz. — Despite knowing for more than a week that a rock slide is blocking traffic from using the fire evacuation route from the Hualapai Mountain community of Pine Lake, the Bureau of Land Management has not notified the public and has ignited at least one controlled burn on the mountain.

The Kingman BLM office was notified by Mohave County Sheriff’s Office personnel and a number of private citizens more than a week ago that the road is impassable to passenger vehicles.

However, the BLM has not told the media or put up signage warning that Antelope Wash Road, which is the Pine Lakes fire evacuation route, is blocked.

“We’ve scheduled it this week to have it fixed,” said Chris Bryan, assistant field manager at the Kingman BLM field office. “The guy was going to go out (Monday), but he called in sick.”

Bryan acknowledged that no standard passenger vehicle could get past the rock slide and that it blocks the evacuation route for everything above the Pinion Pines/DW Ranch Road turnoff.

“We hope to have it done prior to Thursday,” Bryan said. “It’s an emergency and we’ll send someone out to fix it as soon as we can.”

Although the fire evacuation route is blocked, that did not stop the BLM from holding a prescribed burn near Getz Peak last Thursday, Bryan said.

Getz Peak is immediately east of Hualapai Mountain Road between Pine Lakes and Kingman. Its contingent of radio towers is visible from Hualapai Mountain Road.

After initially agreeing that the road is blocked, Bryan said the road is not impassable. Since highly modified four-wheel-drive vehicles could climb across the rock slide, the road did not qualify as closed, he said. He further stated there is no need for warnings, signage or notification of the public or the media because the road is open.

While the BLM expects to have the slide cleared by Thursday, he said the agency does not believe there is any hazard to the public.