Arizona Wildfires

The most recent wildfire and the one in the most populated area of the three significant blazing in the state right now is the Monument fire, about fifty miles southeast from me as the crow flies.

Saturday, 10,000 people were told to flee their homes. Since June 12, 21,000 acres have burned and over 50 homes have been destroyed. The fire is only 27% contained. One thousand personnel are fighting the blaze. Cost so far is $6.4 million.

This is small in comparison to the Wallow fire that has been burning for weeks in eastern AZ and has scorched 500,000 acres and has now moved into New Mexico. It has destroyed 32 homes and is still only 38% contained.

The Horseshoe 2 fire in SE Arizona, in the same county as the Monument fire, has burned 206,000 acres and is 70% contained.

The high winds, high temperatures and low dew points and humidity have been hampering the firefighters. Add to that the fact that we had almost a record dry winter and no rain since April 10 and the area is a tinder box.

All the fires are human-caused.

Here is a link to the Arizona Daily Star's most recent update about the Wallow fire which is getting the most coverage right now in Tucson because it is the closest one and it is affecting our air quality.

May I ask my friends complaining about their miserable weather to please share their rain with us in the US desert southwest? Just airlift it to Tucson, Arizona. :)