Wildfire — Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona

2011-05-08 to 2011-05-31 · Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona

Event narrative

The Horseshoe 2 fire started on May 8 in Horseshoe Canyon in the Coronado National Forest. Gusty southwest winds caused the fire to grow over 9,000 acres on the first day. This extreme fire behavior was caused by extremely dry fuels caused by a long term drought and a killer winter freeze of oak trees. Residents of the communities of Paradise and Portal were evacuated at times due to thick smoke and from the threat of this rapidly growing wildfire overtaking these locations. By the end of May, 77,933 acres had been burned and 12 firefighters had suffered minor injuries.

Wider weather episode

Extreme drought conditions continued through May allowing for a human caused fire to quickly become out of control. Aided by strong southwest winds, a killer winter freeze, and extremely dry fuels, the fire ended up consuming over 200,000 acres of the Chiricahua Mountains.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 309006. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.