Woodbury Fire Arizona Tonto National Forest 2019
The Woodbury wildfire in the Tonto National Forest started on Saturday June 8th, 2019. Currently it is reported to have burned 123,875 acres fueled by invasive Buffelgrass introduced in the 1930's as livestock forage. Human manipulation of the land, ranching, and farming are a common theme in the destruction of native species in the Sonoran Desert.
For more information please visit the incident report available on the web. It's predicted even after the wildfire is 100% contained this may cause flash flooding in the wilderness and along Arizona Route 88, Apache Trail. The following pictures are from legal and SAFE boundaries.
Woodbury Fire as seen from the US 60 Gold Canyon
Map of the wildfire available as public information provided by National Wildfire Coordinating Group, USA
North facing wildfire remnants. The Buffelgrass burned quickly charring or destroying native plant species.
This a good example of what is fueling the fire. Below the mesquite is an invasive grass species that's been mowed down. It's tinder dry and can burn in a flash.
If you zoom in you can see how the fire burned quickly around the saguaros. I would say this was a good thing for the invasive grass, but wildfires are a part of it's life cycle.
Panoramic morning light Northern view of wildfire damage.
Secondary Effects of Wildfire
The wildlife effected by wildfires are shown below. I couldn't stop and capture all the road kill and living along Rt 188. What this did was push animals out of their territory forcing them to cross the road where people are traveling 35-75 MPH. I almost hit a mule deer one evening and a roadrunner another morning. I saw javelinas (wild boar), rabbits, coyotes, road runners, crows, turkey vultures, and this poor Mojave Rattlesnake.
Flock of well fed Turkey Vultures resting in the morning. I found a carp below this roost where they had devoured the innards.