A wildfire on Mount Lemmon started Sunday, the same day Tucson hit a high of 100 degrees for the first time this year. The high Monday will be about 10 degrees cooler, but high winds are expected most of the day.

 Pima County Sheriff’s Department

Pima County experienced its first 100-degree day of the year and first wildfire of the season Sunday. The fire started Sunday near Mile Marker 4.5, the Pima Sheriff’s Department said.

As of Monday afternoon, the blaze had grown to approximately 80 acres and was 70% contained, according to a National Forest Service official.

Catalina Highway was closed Sunday except to Mount Lemmon residents and workers, but it reopened Monday afternoon.

The Tucson Interagency Fire Center began receiving calls about a fire in the area just before 4 p.m. Sunday and immediately alerted the Coronado National Forest Service and local agencies.

The cause of the blaze, located near the Molino basin, was still under investigation as of Monday afternoon, according to the Forest Service official.

Federal, state and local agencies are currently involved in suppressing the blaze.

Authorities said to call the 24-hour Road Condition Hotline at 520-547-7510 for current updates.

Firefighters benefited from relatively cooler temperatures Monday, with the high expected to top out at 90 degrees. That’s about 10 degrees cooler than Sunday when it hit 100 degrees in Tucson for the first time in 2023.

However, firefighters had to contend with some stiff winds and gusts that were expected to be as high as 45 miles per hour in some areas of Pima County.

Metro Tucson was one of several areas in southern Arizona under a Red Flag warning most of Monday, the National Weather Service said.

Notable wildfires in Southern Arizona since 2002. Video produced by Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star 2021

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Eddie Celaya is a cannabis writer and host of the “Here Weed Go!” podcast. He graduated from Pima Community College and the University of Arizona and has been with the Arizona Daily Star since May 2019.

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