Wildfire — White Mountains, Arizona

2011-06-01 to 2011-06-30 · White Mountains, Arizona

Event narrative

The Wallow Fire entered Apache County around 200 PM on June first. The fire burned a total of 313,103 acres in Apache County. The fire did not spread after June 30th (it was contained). The fire was declared out (controlled) on July 13th. It cost an estimated 58 million dollars to fight the fire in Apache County alone.

Wider weather episode

The Wallow Fire started on May 29, 2011 from an abandoned campfire in the Bear Wallow Wilderness in northern Greenlee County about 24 miles southwest of Alpine, Arizona. The fire spread into Apache County on June first. Red Flag conditions caused fire spreads of 8 and 12 miles on different days. This fire eventually burned 538,049 total acres in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico (15,397 acres in New Mexico). In Apache County, 313,103 acres burned in Apache County (WFO Flagstaff's CWA). Containment (the fire did not spread any more) was achieved by the end of June and the fire was controlled (declared out) on July 13th. Over 6,000 people were employed to fight this fire at a cost of over $100,000,000! It became the largest fire in Arizona history. In all, there were 32 residences destroyed, 5 residences damaged, 4 commercial properties destroyed, 36 outbuildings destroyed, 1 damaged outbuilding, and one vehicle destroyed.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 318290. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.