3 wildfires burning in Arizona rank in top 10 largest in state history
Jun 24, 2020, 5:15 PM | Updated: 9:45 pm
(Facebook Photo/Bush Fire Info)
(Facebook Photo/Bush Fire Info)
PHOENIX – Three wildfires burning in Arizona rank in the top 10 largest in the state’s history.
The Bush Fire, Bighorn Fire and Mangum Fire have burned more than 323,000 acres combined as of Wednesday morning, according to InciWeb.
The fires sparked within a little more than a week of each other and are the largest blazes currently burning in the United States.
The Bush Fire burning north of Phoenix has consumed 186,967 acres and was 73% contained.
It ranks as the fifth largest fire in the state’s history, behind the 2011 Horseshoe Two Fire, which burned 222,954 acres.
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The human-caused Bush blaze was sparked June 13 by a vehicle fire.
Some residents who were impacted by this fire were allowed to return home on Tuesday.
The Mangum Fire ranks as the ninth largest fire in the state’s history. It has consumed 71,108 acres in the high country and is 68% contained.
The cause is still unknown.
The Bighorn Fire, which has burned 65,536 acres as of Wednesday, rounds out the top 10 largest fires in the state’s history.
Burning just north of Tucson, the blaze was lightning-caused and is 33% contained.
The largest fire in the state’s history was the Wallow Fire in 2011, which burned 538,049 acres in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.
Crews in the state have been busy this season. So far, more than 418,000 acres have burned from more than 1,000 wildfires in Arizona.
