That compares to a 10-year average of 13,389 fires and about 980 square miles burned. More than 19,400 fires have scorched about 1,300 square miles of land since Jan. is above average so far this year, according to the NIFC. It's one of three large wildfires burning in Arizona and 13 active nationally, most of them in the West.Ī wildfire in Boulder, Colorado also prompted evacuations Tuesday, and a recent fire in New Mexico burned more than 150 structures and forced thousands of people from their homes. The cause of the Tunnel Fire is under investigation, and officials said they don't yet know if there were any injuries. Temperatures in the region are 5 to 10 degrees above normal, adding to the fire danger. There’s also little to no chance of rain, and the region is entering its driest time of the year. "Unfortunately winds will ramp up each afternoon over the next few days," Erdman said. By Wednesday morning, high winds fueled its spread to about 26 square miles.
Tuesday morning, it had burned 100 acres. The fire was first reported Sunday afternoon, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Photos and videos posted to social media showed heavy smoke and flames moving quickly in the area. "But depending on the intensity of the fire, fire can still move across cinders." "It’s good in that it’s not headed toward a very populated area, and it’s headed toward less fuel," Coconino National Forest spokesman Brady Smith told the AP. (MORE: Dangerous Combination of Intense Wildfires and Extreme Rainfall Likely to Happen More Often, Scientists Say ) But it was moving away from the highly populated areas of northern Flagstaff, and officials are hopeful that could limit further structural damage. They estimated that more than 700 homes were included in the evacuation order, according to the Associated Press. Officials told the media that about two dozen structures had burned, and some 250 buildings remained threatened. Named the Tunnel Fire, the blaze was burning about 14 miles northeast of Flagstaff in Coconino County.
Structures burned and hundreds of homes were under evacuation orders as a fast-moving wildfire fueled by dry, windy weather grew near Flagstaff, Arizona, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
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