Mt. Lemmon

Fire crews will begin burning wood piles from forest thinning on Mt. Lemmon February 11 through 15, weather permitting.

Burning will occur along the Catalina Highway, and in Marshall Gulch, Sabino Work Center, Summerhaven and Whitetail Campground. Approximately 100 acres will be burned.

“This project is intended to reduce hazardous fuels adjacent to local communities,” said Santa Catalina District Ranger Charles Woodard. “It’s part of an ongoing fuels reduction project to reduce the threat of wildfire.”

 The Santa Catalina Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest has temporarily closed and locked gates on seasonal roads and day-use sites in the upper elevations of Mt. Lemmon due to weather-related unsafe driving conditions.  The main road leading up the mountain, the Catalina Highway, will remain open but may close periodically due to weather-related issues.

The Shovel Fire was reported this evening on Mt. Lemmon. Resources have been ordered, including six engines, four handcrews as well as various overhead.  The fire is estimated to be 25 acres.

The Molino Fire was reported at 12:30 on April 4th near mile marker 4.5 on the Mt. Lemmon Highway. The fire is burning in grass and brush, is being pushed by winds and is estimated at 50 acres .

Multiple engines, two helicopters and various other firefighting resources are on scene. More resources have been ordered including handcrews and an air tanker. Mt. Lemmon Highway is currently closed at mile marker 0.

Fire managers on the Santa Catalina Ranger District, Coronado National Forest expect to ignite the Bigelow Prescribed Fire on Mt. Lemmon Monday, November 14, if conditions such as temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity and fuel moistures are favorable.

The 200-acre Bigelow Prescribed Fire will burn on Mt. Bigelow in the Santa Catalina Mountains.  The project duration should be one day.

The Montrose Fire was discovered early this morning burning in the area of Box Spring, three miles northwest of Rose Canyon Lake. The fire is burning in downed timber and brush is steep rough terrain.

A helicopter is dropping water, dipped from Rose Canyon Lake, to slow the fire as crews move into position through extremely rough terrain to engage in full fire suppression. Another helicopter is enroute.

Beginning July 15, personnel from the Santa Catalina Ranger District in Coronado National Forest (NF) will burn piles of stacked wood on Mt. Lemmon in the vicinities of Mt. Bigelow and Spencer Canyon. The burning may continue for several days.

Recent rainfall has resulted in conditions favorable to burn approximately 20 acres of wood cut and piled as part of the Spencer/Bigelow fuels reduction project.