On June 13, the Wallow Fire became the largest in Arizona’s history, surpassing the Rodeo Chediski Fire by about 1,000 acres. By the end of the day, the Wallow Fire had burned 469,407 acres (1,900 square kilometers or 733 square miles) and destroyed 32 homes, 4 commercial buildings, and 36 outbuildings. The Rodeo-Chediski Fire in 2002 burned 468,638 acres (1,897 square kilometers or 732 square miles), but destroyed 491 buildings, including 465 homes.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite acquired this image on June 13 at 1:45 p.m. local time. Red outlines show the actively burning parts of the fire. Compared to previous days, when the fire burned on the north side, the fire was more intense in the south on June 13. Some of the fire has crossed the border into New Mexico. Burned forest is dark brown.
The Wallow Fire started on May 29 and is now 10 percent contained, with a high potential for growth. A reported 4,734 firefighters are working to contain the fire.
References & Resources
- InciWeb. (2011, June 13). Wallow. Accessed June 14, 2011.
- United States Department of Agriculture. (2003, August). Healthy Forests Initiative update for Arizona. Accessed June 14, 2011.
NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek.
