Southwest Fire Summary

The Southwest has experienced extremely high fire activity since the beginning of the year, particularly in southeastern and southern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona (Figures 9a–c). Live fuels such as grasses, shrubs, and trees have been extremely dry as a result of short-term drought conditions that began around November. Record low temperatures in February also contributed to the build-up of fire fuels because the hard freezes killed many plants and desiccated many others that survived the freezes. Strong winds also have heightened fire danger across the Southwest in recent months.

Predictive Services at the Southwest Coordination Center reports more than 500 fires have charred nearly 350,000 acres in New Mexico since January 1. The number of acres burned this year already has surpassed New Mexico’s annual average of 242,000. Arizona has not burned as badly as New Mexico. Almost 77,000 acres have burned so far, most of which are located in the southeastern corner of the state. Fire activity this year has been more severe than last year in both states. By May 2010, only 3,800 acres in Arizona and 13,350 acres in New Mexico had burned.

Most fires have been caused by human activity this year, including the Miller fire, the largest fire in the Southwest to date this season. The blaze started on April 28 in the Gila National Forest, 25 miles north of Silver City, NM. As of May 23, it had burned more than 81,000 acres and was less than 50 percent contained. Due to difficult terrain, this fire may not be fully contained until the end of August.