Woodbury 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 combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

in the

Superstition Wilderness A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and ...

, northwest of Superior, Arizona, that started on June 8, 2019. The fire burned a total area of 123,875 acres. It was the fifth largest wildfire in

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 ...

’s history. The blaze caused the evacuation of homes, road and campground closures, endangered

wildlife habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s, and the destruction of hiking trails and archaeological sites.

Origin

The fire erupted five miles in the Superstition Mountains east of

Mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

, near the Woodbury Trailhead, north of Superior, Arizona, in the

Tonto National Forest The Tonto National Forest, encompassing , is the largest of the six national forests in Arizona and is the ninth largest national forest in the United States. The forest has diverse scenery, with elevations ranging from 1,400 feet (427 m) in ...

. The origin of the fire was human-based.

Description

The fire was reported around 1:28 PM on June 8. On June 18, the fire was only 6% contained, and 40,557 acres were burnt. By June 21, the fire had burnt 54, 998 acres, while the containment had dropped from 42% to 34%. As of Tuesday night, June 26, the fire had scorched 121,899 acres, and firefighters had contained 48% of the fire. Due to the size and complexity of the fire, both government agencies and private contractors were deployed to gain control of the fire. By mid-June, there were 450 firefighters to fight the flames. On Monday, July 15, by 7:00 PM, the fire was fully contained.

Use of UAS

On June 26, 2019, an

unmanned aircraft system An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...

(UAS) was deployed by Justin Baxter, a drone fire operations specialist, and his three-man team. They flew a Matrice 600 (M600) for gathering data on the magnitude of damage and locating hot spots using an

infrared sensor Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

Consequences

The fire destroyed the habitat of the white-tailed and

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...

, javelinas,

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

, black bears, coyotes, bobcats and

gray fox The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener, the diminutive island fox (''Urocyon littor ...

es. It also burnt 989 acres of land within Tonto National Monument.

Closures

The areas burned by the fire presented the risk of severe flooding due to which a 7-mile, unpaved section of State Route 88 (Apache Trail), starting past

Tortilla Flat ''Tortilla Flat'' (1935) is an early John Steinbeck novel set in Monterey, California. The novel was the author's first clear critical and commercial success. The book portrays a group of 'paisanos'—literally, countrymen—a small band of e ...

to State Highway 188 at

Theodore Roosevelt Dam Theodore Roosevelt Dam is a dam on the Salt River located northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. The dam is high and forms Theodore Roosevelt Lake as it impounds the Salt River. Originally built between 1905 and 1911, the dam was renovated and expande ...

, was closed. Apache Lake and Marina, Apache Campgrounds, and picnic sites were also sealed. A portion of the

Arizona Trail The Arizona National Scenic Trail is a National Scenic Trail from Mexico to Utah that traverses the whole north–south length of the U.S. state of Arizona. The trail begins at the Coronado National Memorial near the US–Mexico border and moves ...

(AZT) and Hewitt Station (Forest Road 357) was also closed for public safety. The Forest Service closed sites included Crabtree Wash, Davis Wash, Burnt Corral, Three-Mile Wash, and Fish Creek.

References

{{Arizona wildfires Wildfires in Arizona 2019 Arizona wildfires 2019 in Arizona