Arizona's wildfire toll already is mounting well in advance of the traditional fire season, with almost twice as many fires in the first quarter of the year compared with last year, state officials say.

Current conditions, with high fuel levels and exceptionally dry and high temperatures, eerily resemble those of the catastrophic 2002 and 2011 fire seasons, according to the Department of Forestry and Fire Management. In 2002, the mammoth blaze known as the Rodeo-Chediski fire burned more than 460,000 acres, and the Wallow, Horseshoe Two and Murphy fires combined charred more than 800,000 acres across the state.

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