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 / Modified jan 27, 2021 2:01 p.m.

Arizona's 2020 wildfire season among worst in past decade

2,520 wildfires burned across the state, 82% human caused
by Associated Press

360 bighorn 2 The Bighorn Fire burns in the Santa Catalina Mountains on June 16, 2020.
Robert Lindberg/AZPM Staff

Authorities say Arizona had one of its worst wildfire seasons in nearly a decade last year.

Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management officials said that statistics show 2,520 wildfires burned 978,519 acres of state, federal and tribal lands in 2020. Of those fires, wildland fire investigators said 82% were human caused.

In comparison, 1,869 wildfires burned 384,942 acres on all land jurisdictions in 2019. Arizona’s most

Among the factors for last year’s severe wildfire season was unseasonably warm conditions, a lack of moisture, an overabundance of fuels across Arizona’s central region and within the Sonoran Desert, and increased recreational traffic across the state.

MORE: Arizona, Climate Change, Environment, News
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