Strength of wildfire season sparked by increase in lightning-caused fires
PHOENIX - Wildfire season has been very active this year, and we're not out of the woods yet.
The total number of acres burned is already 100,000 more this year compared to last year and fire officials believe the season could last longer than previous years.
"We started to get kind of busy in April," said Tiffany Davila from the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.
Her agency keeps track of acres burned on an annual basis.
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In 2023, there were a total of 1,554 fires in Arizona covering 154,682 acres. This year there have been 1,704 reported fires totaling 252,929 acres, and the wildfire season isn't over.
"In that southwestern portion of the county near Thunderbird Farms, southwest of Maricopa, there are still active fires at this time," she said.
Davila has been following the wildfire season in Arizona closely and said the data shows new information compared to previous years.
(Information provided by Department of Forest and fire Management officer Scott Hines)
"This monsoon season has a lot of dry thunderstorms, meaning a lot of lightning associated with these storms but not a lot of rain to back it up. So we did get a lot of sparks from lightning strikes and there are still some fires we're working at this time that are due to lightning strikes," she said.
Findings show she is right.
There's a noticeable increase in lightning caused fires as 471 such fires burned around 83,000 acres last year.
This year, 670 lightning-caused fires have burned more than 184,000 acres.
Wildfire mitigation relies heavily on monsoon moisture, but this year has been tricky
"When we get the moisture, then our temperatures warm back up," she said.
On Monday, temperatures in Phoenix hit 100° or higher for the 100th day in a row. Monsoon rainstorms usually bring temperatures below 100° a couple of times during the summer to provide some relief.
The skeleton of a dead and burned Saguaro Cactus remains standing in Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Davila says, although we've had some rain, it hasn't been enough.
"We really need statewide precipitation to really put an end to our fire season," she said.
Davila says fire activity could stick around until the end of September and possibly into October because of this year's lingering heat.