Wildfire in Arizona, October 2 to 8, 2009

Name: Wildfire in Arizona, October 2 to 8, 2009
Start: 2009-10-02T13:00
End: 2009-10-08T12:00
Location: Arizona

October 2 to 8, 2009 · NWS FGZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A prescribed burn jumped containment lines and became a wildfire southwest of Williams.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $2.5 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS FGZ wrote it up.

A prescribed burn jumped containment lines and became a wildfire southwest of Williams.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Flagstaff, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 2, 9:30 AM MST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 2, 9:30 AM MST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 2, 6:55 AM MST, 6 hours 5 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Western Mogollon Rim

When: October 2, 1:00 PM MST to October 8, 12:00 PM MST
Where: Western Mogollon Rim forecast zone
Property damage: $2.5 million
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 35.839, -111.770 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Twin Fire began as a prescribed burn that jumped containment lines. The fire was moving towards the town of William where 64 homes were evacuated. The fire threatened over 100 homes and businesses. Smoke from the fire impacted travel on I40 by lowering the visibility. The fire reached a final size of just over 900 acres. Resources assigned to the Twin Fire included: a Type I Incident Management Team, 7 helicopters, several air tankers, 6 Hot Shot Crews, 4 Hand Crews, 33 engines, 2 dozers and 7 water tenders. In all, over 450 personnel were assigned to the fire.

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arizona in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, October 2009

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 197436.