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Large wildfires lead to road closures in Arizona

Truckers could hit smoke from fires in other parts of West as well

(Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Two wildfires in Arizona have spread quickly since being discovered earlier this month.

The Mescal Fire, discovered June 1, was 65,825 acres in size as of Monday evening. The Telegraph Fire, discovered Friday, is not far behind at 61,211 acres. Both are located east of Phoenix and north of Tucson and are less than 25% contained, according to Inciweb.

According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, the following roads are closed due to the fires:

• U.S. Highway 70 closed to commercial vehicles between mileposts 272 and 302.
• U.S. Highway 60 from Superior to Top-of-the-World.
• State Route 77 from Globe to Winkelman.
• State Route 177 from Superior to Winkelman.


Telegraph and Mescal wildfires in Arizona. (Google maps)

Much of the western U.S. has been plagued with drought for at least the past 12 months, reaching “extreme” or “exceptional” levels in many places. These are the two worst categories issued by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Wildfires have been an unfortunate fact of life for many communities, and every so often the threat increases for new and existing fires to spread out of control as winds become gusty. This will be the case through at least the middle of this week in areas north of the Arizona fires.

https://vimeo.com/560364615

Fire weather conditions will be especially favorable in western Colorado, much of Utah, southern Nevada, portions of eastern California and far western Arizona. Along with the extremely dry ground and gusts of 35 to 45 mph, the air itself will be very dry. Relative humidity during peak heating hours will be less than 15% in some areas.

The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings across the region, including Grand Junction, Colorado; Salt Lake City; Las Vegas; Bishop and Death Valley, California; as well as Kingman and Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The warnings last through Wednesday.


Besides potential low visibility and road closures in these areas due to smoke, the air will be unhealthy. Drivers should spend as little time as possible outside their trucks.

Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.

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Nick Austin

Nick is a meteorologist with 20 years of forecasting and broadcasting experience. He was nominated for a Midsouth Emmy for his coverage during a 2008 western Tennessee tornado outbreak. He received his Bachelor of Science in Meteorology from Florida State University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Management from the Georgia Tech. Nick is a member of the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association. As a member of the weather team at WBBJ-TV in Jackson, Tennessee, Nick was nominated for a Mid-South Emmy for live coverage of a major tornado outbreak in February 2008. As part of the weather team at WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Nick shared the Chattanooga Times-Free Press Best of the Best award for “Best Weather Team” eight consecutive years.