The Tunnel Fire was a wildfire that burned in

Coconino National Forest The Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre (751,000 ha) United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff, with elevations ranging from 2,600 feet to the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 feet (H ...

and

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument Sunset Crater is a cinder cone located north of Flagstaff in the U.S. state of Arizona. The crater is within the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. Sunset Crater is the youngest in a string of volcanoes (the San Francisco volcanic field ...

, the Black Bill Park neighborhood north of the city of Flagstaff,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and along

U.S. Route 89 U.S. Route 89 (US 89) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway with two sections, and one former section. The southern section runs for from Flagstaff, Arizona, to the southern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The northern sectio ...

. The fire was named after a tunnel landmark on Waterline Road, near where it ignited on Sunday, April 17, 2022. On June 3, 2022, the wildfire was declared 100% contained by the Arizona Emergency Information Network. It had burned 26,532 acres (10,737 ha) and had destroyed 30 homes. No fatalities or injuries were reported.

Cause

While the cause of the fire is unknown, officials have deemed it unlikely the fire was lightning-caused. The fire was first reported on the afternoon of April 17, 2022 near the outskirts of Flagstaff.

Development

April

The fire was first reported on April 17, 2022, at approximately 4:22 p.m. MST. The cause of the fire is currently unknown. AZIEN said that, while an investigation found a "specific origin area and excluded many cause determinations", the exact cause was still unknown. On April 22, scattered

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

and even

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

showers were falling on the fire. This helped to douse dry vegetation, but strong winds dried the vegetation out soon after. There were still two spot fires inside the perimeter. Large fallen trees from the Schultz Fire kept one pocket burning at . Another isolated pocket burned near Strawberry Crater Wilderness Area, but it moved into flatter terrain with less fuels.

Containment

The fire reached 100% containment on June 1.

Impact

Structure

The fire destroyed 30 residential structures and 24 outbuildings. An estimated 109 properties were impacted.

Closures and evacuations

was closed between mileposts 423 and 445 because of the wildfire.

issued a forest closure for areas affected by the Tunnel Fire. The fire burned

, and culturally important items were relocated. An estimated 2,068 people lived in the evacuation area near Flagstaff.

References

{{Arizona wildfires 2022 meteorology April 2022 in the United States Wildfires in Arizona 2022 Arizona wildfires