Wildfire — Black Mesa Area, Arizona

2019-07-21 to 2019-07-31 · Black Mesa Area, Arizona

Event narrative

The Museum Fire started about 4 miles north of Flagstaff on Sunday July 21 at around 1115 AM. The fire grew to 1,962 acres in the Dry Lake Hills area. The burn severity was 12% High, 28% moderate, 48%, and 12% very low. Much of this area drains into the Spruce Wash which runs into several communities of Flagstaff. An initial estimate of $9 million was spent on fire suppression. Extensive flood protection measures (200,000 sand bags and many jersey barriers) have been put in place below the fire scar.

Wider weather episode

The Museum Fire started in the Dry Lake Hills 4 miles north of downtown Flagstaff. It was human caused. The fire was hit by heavy thunderstorms rains just two days later that caused ash and debris flow out of the fire area. The final size was 1,961 acres. The fire did not grow much after the first week. It was declared contained on Monday August 12.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 838601. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.