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San Juan Fire Spreading Rapidly Through Northern Arizona

San Juan Fire
(Photo courtesy of Fort Apache Agency via InciWeb Incident Information System)

A wildfire broke out earlier today in northern Arizona and has already grown to more than a thousand acres. The San Juan Fire started on the Fort Apache reservation around noon, but has already spread into the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest.

Marta Call with the forest service said the conditions are primed for a fire.

"With that mixed conifer and the dry season, unfortunately this area just didn’t get the kind of snowpack it needed and we’ve been in a drought situation," Call said. "We have been in stage two restrictions to try to prevent an incident from happening, but things happen. As of yet we don’t have a cause for it."

So far, no mandatory evacuations have been ordered although authorities have issued advisory evacuations for several small housing areas near the fire.

Al Macias, former KJZZ news director, retired as KJZZ's news director in 2022. He rejoined the station as a features reporter in 2023 and also as a part-time editor in 2024.