Walnut Fire expands to nearly 7,000 acres near Texas Canyon, prompts evacuations in rural area. One lane of Interstate 10 has reopened in each direction Tuesday evening after the Walnut Fire forced a closure of the highway between Tucson and Willcox, as the fire chewed through more than 6,800 acres of chaparral and grass in the desert northeast of Benson, Ariz., in the Texas Canyon area.
Residents of the rural area around Dragoon Road were ordered to evacuate Tuesday afternoon, and that evacuation remained in place through the night.
I-10 was closed in both directions Tuesday afternoon, Arizona Department of Transportation officials said, but in the evening one lane each way had been reopened to traffic.