Wildfire on Mount Lemmon mostly contained by Monday afternoon

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.