2020 Bush Fire of Arizona – Photos

By: Aryton Temcio

  I have always been enamored by wildfires and how they begin, how they burn, how they are contained, and most of all how they are the cause of regrowth.

I have heard stories and seen pictures of the intense Bush fire that burned nearly 200,000 acres of land in Arizona, just a 40-minute drive northeast of Phoenix. I decided to show not only the effects that wildfire has on the desert but also how there is still beauty to be found in a “wasteland” full of charred wildlife.

These photos were taken on my iPhone while I hiked the Ballantine Trail on February 17th, 2023 which was an area just inside the limits of the 200,000 affected acres and right off of the highway AZ-87.

Arizona has a rich history of wildfires, with four other fires burning a larger area than the Bush Fire. It has been just under three years since the Bush Fire of 2020 and unfortunately, we won’t see a regrown Four Peaks Wilderness for many years as it can take upwards of half a century to see full regrowth.