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Scenes from Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. This was the first time I had hiked in the park since the Tunnel Fire in 2022. In only 48 hours this wind-driven wildfire swept through the monument, burning over 20,000 acres (8,100 ha), or more than 60% of the protected park lands. It's hard to imagine a more rugged and blasted environment than a lava field or a cinder cone, but the loss of vegetation and trees made it feel even more desolate and otherworldly.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning and fears weather conditions could force Arizona wildfire to quickly grow out of control.
Another chapter in the “new now” story post-climate change.
Excerpt from this story from Arizona Central:
The Tunnel Fire burning 14 miles northeast of Flagstaff grew to 20,511 acres overnight and weather conditions Thursday do not appear promising for its containment, according to fire officials.
The fire, across U.S. 89, was reported shortly before 4:30 p.m. Sunday and remained at 0% containment as of Thursday morning, Dick Fleishman, an information officer for the Tunnel Fire, said. The cause is unknown and under investigation.
The National Weather Service in Flagstaff issued a red flag warning for parts of northern Arizona, including Flagstaff, between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday due to high winds and low humidity.
Tony Merriman, a meteorologist with NWS Flagstaff, told The Arizona Republic that the area is expected to have high winds with gusts up to 35 mph. Merriman said that the winds, coupled with low humidity, create an environment where a wildfire could quickly grow out of control.
The wind also limits the use of air resources, such as helicopters for water drops, to contain the fire. Fleishman said the chances of using those resources Thursday are small.
Hundreds of homes near Flagstaff, Arizona, have been evacuated as a fast-moving wildfire threatened hundreds of structures Wednesday after destroying at least two dozen buildings, officials said.
This fire is to the east of the Grand Canyon, by a substantial distance. But several important cultural and scientific sites are in the path of the fire, including Sunset Crater Volcano and Wupatki (a Native American historical site) were closed because of the wildfire. (I hiked through the Sunset Crater area and spent several hours touring Wupatki, an amazing cultural site.) I think the fire also cuts off the connection between Flagstaff and points north and the Navajo Nation.
Smaller wildfires are burning near Prescott and along the Rio Grande south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Several wildfires are also burning in Colorado.
What a mess.
Excerpt from this CNN story:
Hundreds of homes near Flagstaff, Arizona, have been evacuated as a fast-moving wildfire threatened hundreds of structures Wednesday after destroying at least two dozen buildings, officials said.
The Tunnel Fire in northern Arizona’s Coconino County had burned more than 19,700 acres as of Wednesday afternoon, according to InciWeb, a US clearinghouse for wildfire information. It was first reported Sunday afternoon.
The fire, about 14 miles northeast of Flagstaff, was rapidly moving to the northeast, pushed by significant winds, officials said. It had no containment as of Wednesday afternoon.
An estimated 2,068 people live in the evacuation area, said Patrice Horstman, chair of the Coconino County Board of Supervisors. “From this 766 households have been evacuated,” along with more than 1,000 animals, Horstman said.
Local power and gas distribution networks, various historical and cultural sites, as well as 150 businesses are threatened by the fire, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday in a news release.
“The Tunnel Fire has been fueled by high winds and dry conditions, and the county has deployed all available resources,” Horstman said during the news conference.
Wildfires are getting more extreme and burning more land. The UN says it's time to 'learn to live with fire'
Wildfires in Arizona, Nebraska and New Mexico have left at least one person dead and destroyed hundreds of structures.
Excerpt from this New York Times story:
Wildfires that continue to blaze across Arizona, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas have been blamed for at least one death, the scorching of more than 130,000 acres and the evacuations of about 4,000 homes, officials said.
The fires are part of what has been an early and active season across the country, as fires have also plagued California, Colorado and Texas.
Corey Mead, a National Weather Service forecaster, said that Nebraska had seen “above normal” activity during its current fire season, and the governor of New Mexico, Michelle Lujan Grisham, said that the fires had come well before the beginning of the state’s wildfire season. “It’s going to be a tough summer,” she said.
Wildfires are increasing in size and intensity in the United States, and wildfire seasons are growing longer. Research has suggested that heat and dryness associated with global warming are major reasons for the increase in bigger and more powerful fires.
Coconino County in Northern Arizona was under a state of emergency as firefighters struggle to contain a wildfire, about 14 miles northeast of Flagstaff. More than 260 firefighters and workers had been deployed to the fire, which forced more than 750 households in the area to evacuate, according to the governor’s office.
The fire in Coconino County, which began on April 17, was only 3 percent contained as of Sunday and had already burned more than 21,000 acres. About 25 structures have been lost to the fire, known as the Tunnel fire, the governor’s office said.
One of the casualties of the Tunnel Fire has been the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, which has been “burned in its entirety,” the park said on Facebook.
The monument, which occupies 3,040 acres and is surrounded by Coconino National Forest, is centered around a cinder cone that is the youngest volcano of the largest volcanic field in the contiguous United States. The park’s visitor center was unharmed, but fires nearby continued to burn, the park said.
In Nebraska, one person was killed and three firefighters were injured as wildfires that began on Friday, fueled by high winds and dry grass, burned throughout the western and central regions of the state, the authorities said.
Strong winds and dry conditions could lead to an outbreak of wildfires.
Excerpt from this Washington Post story:
A bout of strong winds overlapping with bone-dry weather will lead to a major episode of dangerous wildfire conditions across parts of Colorado and New Mexico on Friday.
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center has placed cities including Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colo., and Albuquerque in a top-tier “extremely critical” risk category, writing that a “volatile combination of very strong/gusty winds, anomalously warm/dry conditions, and near-record dry fuels will encourage extreme fire-weather conditions.”
Red-flag warnings, which highlight the potential for rapid fire spread, blanket New Mexico, eastern Colorado and the Texas Panhandle, as well as much of Arizona, western Nebraska and western Kansas.
Fire conditions will begin to manifest Thursday, especially in the Southwest, before worsening into Friday and expanding into the eastern Rockies and western Great Plains. That’s when the Weather Service warns the weather “will become favorable for rapid fire growth and erratic fire behavior.”
This is occurring as the Tunnel Fire northeast of Flagstaff, Ariz., had burned nearly 20,000 acres as of Wednesday evening. The fire tripled in size from Tuesday, torching two dozen structures and forcing the closure of Interstate 89.
Conditions for battling the blaze will remain challenging through Thursday, with a red-flag warning in effect until 8 p.m. local time. Winds could gust to 40 mph amid relative humidity as low as 10 to 15 percent.
EPA OSC: Pike County Tunnel Fire
Thousands flee as Arizona wildfire almost triples in size
Thousands flee as Arizona wildfire almost triples in size
A wind-driven Arizona wildfire almost tripled in area on Wednesday after burning dozens of structures and forcing thousands to flee their homes in a drought-hit rural area. The blaze, dubbed the Tunnel Fire, swept northeast over largely unpopulated hills and valleys 14 miles (23 km) north of Flagstaff, Arizona, according to a US Forest Service statement. Flames burned 16,625 acres, an area larger…
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