2020 Was One Of The Worst Fire Seasons In Arizona In A Decade

Arizona just saw one of the worst fire seasons the state has had in a decade. State forestry officials say in 2020 over 25-hundred wildfires burned more than 978-thousand acres of state, federal and tribal lands. Of those fires, 82-percent were human caused. Last year, there were over 650 more fires that burned over 593-thousand more acres than 2019. Officials say the drier than normal Monsoon season played a significant role in the rise in both categories. The most destructive fire season was in 2011, where more than a million acres burned. That season was led by the Wallow Fire, that burned over 539-thousand acres in the White Mountains in an area that stretched from Alpine to Greer.