A wildfire ignited in the Santa Catalina Mountains on Friday night.
Officials say the fire, located near Finger Rock Canyon, started at 10:33 p.m. Aug. 7, following a lightning strike.
About 67 acres have burned so far.
“This terrain, when we say rough and rugged, we really mean it,” says Starr Farrell, public affairs officer with the Coronado National Forest. “There is no access to get to this area besides flying over it.”
A user on Bluesky appeared to capture to the lightning strike that caused the fire:
Lightning bolt sparking a fire on the Catalina mountains last night. The image right before this did not have the fire in it. #azwx #lightning #wildfire #tucson [image or embed] — raycleveland.bsky.social ( @raycleveland.bsky.social ) August 8, 2026 at 8:00 AM
As of Monday afternoon, the fire is 50% contained.
“We saw little to no growth at all last night. The rains came in and they did add water to the area, but not completely over the entire footprint,” Farrell said.
Finger Rock Trailhead was temporarily closed until Monday afternoon to serve as an access point for firefighters.
The wildfire is currently not close to human-built structures or natural resources.
An infrared drone flight is planned for Tuesday morning to evaluate potential hot spots.
Updates will be posted on the Coronado National Forest Facebook page.
This story has been updated to correct the date the fire started. The fire began Aug. 7, not Aug. 8.
