Qualla: Schultz Fire

Schultz Fire: Introduction

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alan Stark from Goodyear, AZ, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0. Someone left a campfire burning. That single act of carelessness, north of Flagstaff, Arizona, ignited the Schultz Fire at 11:09 a.m. on June 20, 2010. Within hours, high winds drove the blaze across Schultz Peak and into the Coconino National Forest with enough ferocity that federal authorities classified it as an event of "national significance." By the time the last embers cooled, the fire had scorched thousands of acres of ponderosa forest, forced 748 homes to evacuate, and shut down two national monuments. The U.S. Forest Service posted a $2,500 reward for information about whoever walked away from that campfire. The culprit was never publicly identified.

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Image: Alan Stark from Goodyear, AZ, United States | CC BY-SA 2.0

Schultz Fire: A City Holds Its Breath

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit AhwatukeeBauer, CC BY-SA 3.0. The fire exploded north of Flagstaff and moved fast. The Coconino County sheriff closed U.S. Route 89 and ordered evacuations that displaced nearly a thousand residents. Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monument, two of northern Arizona's treasured archaeological sites, were em...

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Image: AhwatukeeBauer | CC BY-SA 3.0

Schultz Fire: Fighting Fire with Fire

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Coconino National Forest, CC BY-SA 2.0. The strategy that ultimately contained the Schultz Fire also made life miserable for Flagstaff residents. Firefighters set deliberate backfires to rob the advancing blaze of fuel, a proven technique that filled the city with smoke for days. By June 25, these controlled burns had ...

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Image: Coconino National Forest | CC BY-SA 2.0

Schultz Fire: The Longer Battle

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Brady Smith; Coconino National Forest, CC BY-SA 2.0. When the last flames were declared contained on July 1, the real work began. Firefighters turned their attention to Doyle Peak and Schultz Peak, where the concern shifted from fire to water. Burned hillsides stripped of vegetation become conduits for erosion and mudslides, a less...

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Image: Brady Smith; Coconino National Forest | CC BY-SA 2.0

Schultz Fire: Scars Visible from Above

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alan English CPA from Scottsdale, Arizona 85254, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Schultz Fire left a burn scar on the San Francisco Peaks foothills that remains visible years later. The contrast between charred slopes and surrounding green forest is stark from the air, a ragged brown patch on the northern approach to Flagstaff. The fire underscored the vu...

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Image: Alan English CPA from Scottsdale, Arizona 85254, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0