Burro fire near Tucson closes road to Mt. Lemmon

map Burro Fire Tucson Arizona Mt Lemmon June 2, 2017

Above: 3-D map of the Burro Fire showing the perimeter at 8:30 p.m. MDT July 2, 2017. Looking southwest.

(Originally published at 8:20 a.m. MDT July 3, 2017.)

The Burro Fire is causing evacuations near Tucson, Arizona in the Mt. Lemmon area. The fire was reported June 30 on the southeast side of Mt. Lemmon in the foothills of Redington Pass and as of 8:30 p.m. MDT on Sunday had spread for six miles to within a mile of the Mt. Lemmon Highway. At that time it had burned about 11,300 acres according to an overnight mapping flight, which is an increase of over 6,000 acres from the last estimate. Monday morning the Incident Management Team estimated it had grown to about 14,000 acres.

The Burro Fire is 6 miles northeast of the outskirts of Tucson and 20 miles east of Interstate 10.

Burro Fire Mt Lemmon Tucson Arizona June 2, 2017
Burro Fire, July 2, 2017. Inciweb photo.

The Pima County Office of Emergency Management’s notices on their Facebook page are a little vague about what areas are being evacuated and when, but a news release from the Incident Management team said Summerhaven is being evacuated as well as the Mt. Lemmon Highway from Mile Marker 0 up to Palisades Road. Other locations are on a pre-evacuation notice. Residents can call 928-351-7537 for more information.

Map Burro Fire
Map of the Burro Fire, showing the perimeter at 8:30 p.m. MDT July 2, 2017.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

10 thoughts on “Burro fire near Tucson closes road to Mt. Lemmon”

  1. WE lost our home on Mt. Lemmon in 2003 and we built a beautiful new home on the same lot. Now to lose our new home would be just devastating! It is sad to think about not being able to enjoy our cool retreat.

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    1. Hope they can keep your home safe. Born and raised in Tucson and now live in Prescott. These wildfires are terrible but never had a summer with so much WIND. May God bless and protect your house.

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  2. I can’t wait to see the birth of a new forest after the fire. I was awesome to watch the Aspen fire area recover and it is gorgeous and it is getting better every year afterward. I will be hiking the through the burro fire area after it is safe to do so… and this time with a camera to document how the new forest comes alive again. What an opportunity of a lifetime and I will have enjoyed TWO of them!!

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    1. How wonderful for you, but what about all the animals that were displaced or burned alive. They have such a limited space in which to live because of human encroachment and please don’t suggest this human-caused fire is simply the circle of life.

      -g

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  3. In Pa they sell firewood permits. That helps get the dry stuff out of the areas and helps people get reasonable firewood. As needs to think this option.

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    1. Have you been to Arizona? The problem in AZ isn’t dry wood that spreads the fire, it’s brush and grass.

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      1. Indeed. The Catalinas are rugged, treacherous, inhospitable hiking terrain. There are trails, but you stick to the trail. People die hiking in those mountains. Large areas have no cell coverage. There are innumerable cacti at lower elevations. Not the kind of plants you want to brush up against. I don’t see too many (any?) roads servicing that area, either.

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      2. It’s also people who cont to throw cigarette butts out of their air conditioned cars without a thought and shooters in Reddington pass that don’t think sparks will set fires in the tall dead grass! So much for those gnarled trees we love to camp under, so much for the new Az trail so painstakingly and lovingly made, Side Door is history now, bye bye Bellota Ranch, Molino Basin, Italian Trap and so much for Chiva Falls, the best kept secret of all. NOW WE really HAVE TO BE SO SO VERY CAREFUL OR WE WILL HAVE NOTHING LEFT! Please! JL

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  4. Historically this is a pretty fire-prone area, Bullock Fire in 2003 pretty much covered the same area, and in 2003 Aspen Fire burned to the west, burned some of Summerhaven. Both of these incidents were managed by SW Area Type 1 teams which I was part of. Hope they get a handle on this on before it goes very far to the west.

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