Updated at 3:25 p.m. June 3, 2011
The Wallow and the Horseshoe 2 fires in southeast Arizona appear to be competing for the position of 4th largest fire in Arizona history; the Wallow fire just became the 4th largest fire ever recorded in the state. As you can see from the map above, the Wallow fire has grown substantially over the last day and a half. On June 1 the fire was 6,699 acres in size. Today, according to a report on InciWeb, where additional information about the fire can be obtained, it has burned 106,000 acres. Much of this fire growth can be attributed to the fact that it was spotting three miles ahead, that is, burning embers being carried up into the smoke column are landing and starting new fires three miles ahead of the main fire. There is no way firefighters can suppress the head of a fire when it is exhibiting that kind of extreme fire behavior.
The Incident Management Team working on the fire has enough problems dealing with a fire that has burned 100,000 acres in two days, but adding to that is the lack of electrical power and phone service that went out on Friday at the Incident Command post.
Some areas have been evacuated, including Alpine, Arizona. More information can be found at InciWeb and the web site for the Apache and Sitgreaves National Forest. However, those sites may not be current due to the lack of power and phone service at the Incident Command Post.
The weather is not helping the firefighters. A RAWS weather station near Alpine, AZ (elevation 8,209′) at 1:16 MT on Friday recorded 71 degrees, 17% humidity, with southwest winds of 9 gusting to 21. A weather camera at Springerville about 20 miles north of the fire occasionally has a view of the smoke.
Below is a map that shows the relative positions of several fires in southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico.
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Update: read the June 4, 2011 article about the Wallow fire.
June 5 article about the Wallow and Horseshoe 2 fires
June 6 article about the Wallow and Horseshoe 2 fires
