The Schultz Fire was a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

which burned over , including Schultz Peak in

Coconino National Forest The Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre (751,000 ha) United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", th ...

near

Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Coconino County, Arizona, Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2019, the city's estimated population was 75,038. Flagstaff's combined metropolitan area has ...

in June 2010. The suspected cause is a

campfire A campfire is a fire at a campsite that provides light and warmth, and heat for cooking. It can also serve as a beacon, and an insect and predator deterrent. Established campgrounds often provide a stone or steel fire ring for safety. Campfires ...

left unattended, and the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

is offering a $2500 reward for information. The Schultz Fire began at 11:09 A.M. June 20 north of Flagstaff and grew rapidly due to high

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hou ...

s, requiring the

Coconino County Coconino County is a county in the north-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. Its population was 145,101 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Flagstaff. The county takes its name from ''Cohonino'', a name applied to the Havasupai p ...

sheriff to close U.S. 89 and evacuate 748 homes, an

animal shelter An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of agricultural communities, where stray livestock would ...

Sunset Crater Sunset Crater is a cinder cone located north of Flagstaff in the U.S. state of Arizona. The crater is within the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Sunset Crater is the youngest in a string of volcanoes (the San Francisco volcanic field ...

and

Wupatki National Monument The Wupatki National Monument is a United States National Monument located in north-central Arizona, near Flagstaff. Rich in Native American archaeological sites, the monument is administered by the National Park Service in close conjunction w ...

. 300

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

s responded, including personnel from the U.S. Forest Service and a Type One Incident Management Team, sent to events of "national significance".

Timeline

On June 22, the fire was 20 percent contained and approximately one thousand people were allowed to return to their homes. By that time had burned and 800 firefighters were fighting the blaze. The southern end of the fire was from Flagstaff. Smoke in the Flagstaff area resulted from backfires. Also on June 22, Arizona governor

Jan Brewer Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine, formerly Warren; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician and author who was the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Brewer is the fourth woman (and was ...

flew over the fire and succeeded in getting federal fire management assistance. 756 area residents went back to their homes June 23. At that point, only two firefighters had been injured and no homes were destroyed. Personnel from as distant as

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

were working the fire. By June 25 the fire was 40 percent contained, largely due to backfires which created a great deal of smoke in Flagstaff. On June 29, firefighters continued to spray water on

Doyle Peak Doyle Peak is a peak in the Coconino National Forest, and the fourth-highest peak in the San Francisco Peaks of northern Arizona. It is the sixth-highest named point in the state of Arizona, with an elevation of . History of the Doyle Peak a ...

. The major concern was stabilizing the burned areas of Doyle Peak and Schultz Peak to prevent

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

and

mudslide A mudflow or mud flow is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/second. Mudflows contain a significa ...

s such as that after the 1977 Radio Fire on

Mount Elden Mount Elden or Elden Mountain (Hopi language, Hopi: Hovi'itstuyqa) is located in central Coconino County, Arizona, Coconino County northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, Flagstaff, Arizona. It takes its name from one of the region's earliest Anglo sett ...

. Forests such as

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

could grow quickly, but cutting down burned trees or adding

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...

would be other techniques to use to stabilize slopes. On July 1 some trails in the Coconino National Forest reopened as the fire was pronounced contained, and a Type III Incident Management Team took over July 2. Rehabilitation of burned areas began. On July 15 additional areas reopened to the public, while others remained off limits until September 15.

Earlier fire

Water dropping plane over the Hardy Fire 19 June 2010

The Schultz Fire was the area's second fire to start in the same weekend; the Hardy Fire southeast of Flagstaff began June 19 and Flagstaff Fire Department ordered some evacuations which became unnecessary once the fire became 30 percent contained. This fire was 90 percent contained by June 25, as was the Eagle Rock Fire west of Flagstaff, started June 11 by

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

References

{{Arizona wildfires Coconino National Forest Wildfires in Arizona 2010 wildfires in the United States 2010 in Arizona