The 2021 Arizona wildfire season was a series of

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

that burned across the state of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, United States. Wildfires across the state burned of land in at least 1,773 fires throughout the state, fueled in part by a drought, hot temperatures, and thunderstorms producing

dry lightning A dry thunderstorm is a thunderstorm that produces thunder and lightning, but where most of its precipitation evaporates before reaching the ground. Dry lightning refers to lightning strikes occurring in this situation. Both are so common in the ...

. At one point in late June, over 20 active wildfires were burning across the state. The total acres burned between the start of the year and the end of June was 22% more than during the same period of the preceding season, which itself was the most active in nearly a decade. The spike in wildfires in Arizona during the summer was due to an ongoing

megadrought A megadrought (or mega-drought) is a prolonged drought lasting two decades or longer. Past megadroughts have been associated with persistent multiyear La Niña conditions (cooler than normal water temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific Oc ...

that is occurring in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

, as well as a

heat wave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

with many western cities hitting record-breaking temperatures.

Background

The Arizona wildfire season usually begins in May and lasts through mid-July, when the

North American Monsoon The North American monsoon, variously known as the Southwest monsoon, the Mexican monsoon, the New Mexican monsoon, or the Arizona monsoon is a pattern of pronounced increase in thunderstorms and rainfall over large areas of the southwestern Uni ...

provides the Southwestern U.S with heavy rainfall to slow down fire activity throughout the region. But in June 2021, the Telegraph Fire became the 6th largest wildfire in Arizona history. Wildfires in Arizona at the time were making headlines due to a ridge of

high pressure In science and engineering the study of high pressure examines its effects on materials and the design and construction of devices, such as a diamond anvil cell, which can create high pressure. By ''high pressure'' is usually meant pressures of th ...

hovering over much of the southwest and severe drought also playing a major role in the Arizona wildfire season with more than 50% of the state being in ' Exceptional Drought'. The drought in the southwest was making the job of fighting wildland fires difficult because of water shortages in the region. At the time, Arizona was also seeing record-breaking temperatures with

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

hitting a high of 118 °F (47 °C) on June 17. Earlier on June 9, governor

Doug Ducey Douglas Anthony Ducey (, né Roscoe Jr.; born April 9, 1964) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 23rd governor of Arizona since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Ducey was previously the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, a c ...

issued Declarations of Emergency in response to the Telegraph and Mescal fires. The declarations provided up to $400,000 (USD) for efforts of response to wildfires. From June 14 to June 20, dry thunderstorms rolled into Arizona and produced dry lighting which spawned a larger outbreak of wildfires throughout the state. The outbreak got so bad that at one point, five out of six national forests had to be closed to the public in late June. These national forests included the Coconino,

Kaibab Kaibab (from a Native Americans in the United States, Native American word meaning "mountain lying down") may refer to the following (all in the Southwestern United States): * Kaibab, Arizona, a small community * Kaibab Indian Reservation, Arizona ...

, Prescott,

Tonto Tonto is a fictional character; he is the Native American (either Comanche or Potawatomi) companion of the Lone Ranger, a popular American Western character created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker. Tonto has appeared in radio and tele ...

and Apache-Sitgreaves national forests. The only people who were allowed in the forests were firefighters and people who owned property in the forests.

List of wildfires

The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), or produced significant structural damage or casualties.

Evacuations

Margo Fire: Dudleyville Flag Fire: Pine Lake Tussock Fire: Fort Misery and Horsethief Basin Spur Fire: Bagdad Telegraph Fire:

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granit ...

, Dripping Springs,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, Top-of-the-World, Government Springs, Wind Spirit, Hagen Ranch, and Slash S Ranch Pinnacle Fire: Klondyke and Aravaipa Cornville Fire: Parts of Cornville (East of Page Springs Road) Backbone Fire:

Strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

and

Pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

Rafael Fire: Areas around

Sycamore Canyon Sycamore Canyon is the second largest canyon in the Arizona redrock country, after Oak Creek Canyon. The long scenic canyon reaches a maximum width of about . It is in North Central Arizona bordering and below the Mogollon Rim, and is located w ...

Wyrick Fire: Antelope Valley and portions of Heber West Chev Fire:

Woods Canyon Lake Woods Canyon Lake is a small lake located in northern Arizona, United States, about east of the city of Payson, Arizona, Payson. It is one in a series of small, canyon-bound lakes located on the Mogollon Rim, collectively referred to as the ' ...

Walnut Fire: Residents near

Dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...

Tiger Fire: Horsethief Basin

References

External links

Arizona Interagency Wildfire Prevention – Wildfire News

Southwest Coordination Center (SWCC)

National Interagency Fire Center
{{Arizona wildfires 2021 heat waves 2021 in Arizona 2021 North American wildfires 2021 natural disasters in the United States

Ariz TRIZ (; russian: теория решения изобретательских задач, ', lit. "theory of inventive problem solving") is “the next evolutionary step in creating an organized and systematic approach to problem solving. The deve ...

June 2021 events in the United States Lists of wildfires Wildfires in Arizona

Background

List of wildfires

Evacuations

See also

References

External links