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Arizona wildfire threatens several towns
Source: Agencies |
June 9, 2011, Thursday
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A wildfire believed sparked by inattentive campers blazed unchecked for an 11th day in eastern Arizona yesterday, engulfing a deserted town, forcing thousands of people in nearby towns to flee and leaving 600 square miles (1,550 square km) of pine forest blackened.
The blaze, ranked as Arizona's second-largest forest fire on record, cut through the popular mountain retreat of Greer, which had been evacuated days before, authorities told reporters in the nearby town of Springerville.
Captain Jim Wilkins, a US Forest Service fire official, said it was too soon to know how many of several hundred homes in the town were lost, but "we do know the fire burned through there."
Earlier yesterday, authorities ordered the complete evacuation of Springerville and a third mountain community, Eager. The two towns, both situated near the New Mexico border, are home to some 8,000 people combined.
As many as 2,000 people had been chased from the Springerville-Eager area over the past two days, but officials had allowed most residents to stay pending possible further evacuations.
As many as 11,000 residents in all have been displaced in the White Mountains region, a popular vacation destination for Arizonans seeking to escape the summer heat, since the fire erupted on May 29.
While the wind-whipped blaze remained at zero containment, no injuries have been reported and known property losses were limited to 11 structures, including at least four cabins, fire officials said. Some 2,000 firefighters were battling the blaze.
New Mexico state officials were also readying for the blaze, which they said was about a mile from the border on Wednesday, to cross into their state.
Winds fanning the fire through tinder-dry ponderosa pines were expected to intensify again Wednesday afternoon, with gusts forecast to reach 42 miles per hour (68 kph).
"This fire is very large and very intense, and we're still just trying to get a handle on it," Brenyn Lohmoelder, a fire information officer, told Reuters.
One of the biggest challenges facing fire crews was the danger of additional spot fires ignited by burning embers carried aloft by high winds, said Jim Whittington, a fire official.
As of Wednesday morning, fire officials said the so-called Wallow Fire had charred up to 389,000 acres or well over 600 square miles, in and around the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest.
Smoke from the conflagration, which fire officials suspect may have started from an unattended campfire, has drifted as far east as Iowa.
Nearly 1,000 firefighters worked on Wednesday to gain greater control over a separate large wildfire burning in the southeastern part of the state.
Officials said the Horseshoe 2 Fire had consumed nearly 107,000 acres and prompted the evacuation of two small communities. Seven structures were reported lost in that fire, which was listed as 50 percent contained.
The blaze, ranked as Arizona's second-largest forest fire on record, cut through the popular mountain retreat of Greer, which had been evacuated days before, authorities told reporters in the nearby town of Springerville.
Captain Jim Wilkins, a US Forest Service fire official, said it was too soon to know how many of several hundred homes in the town were lost, but "we do know the fire burned through there."
Earlier yesterday, authorities ordered the complete evacuation of Springerville and a third mountain community, Eager. The two towns, both situated near the New Mexico border, are home to some 8,000 people combined.
As many as 2,000 people had been chased from the Springerville-Eager area over the past two days, but officials had allowed most residents to stay pending possible further evacuations.
As many as 11,000 residents in all have been displaced in the White Mountains region, a popular vacation destination for Arizonans seeking to escape the summer heat, since the fire erupted on May 29.
While the wind-whipped blaze remained at zero containment, no injuries have been reported and known property losses were limited to 11 structures, including at least four cabins, fire officials said. Some 2,000 firefighters were battling the blaze.
New Mexico state officials were also readying for the blaze, which they said was about a mile from the border on Wednesday, to cross into their state.
Winds fanning the fire through tinder-dry ponderosa pines were expected to intensify again Wednesday afternoon, with gusts forecast to reach 42 miles per hour (68 kph).
"This fire is very large and very intense, and we're still just trying to get a handle on it," Brenyn Lohmoelder, a fire information officer, told Reuters.
One of the biggest challenges facing fire crews was the danger of additional spot fires ignited by burning embers carried aloft by high winds, said Jim Whittington, a fire official.
As of Wednesday morning, fire officials said the so-called Wallow Fire had charred up to 389,000 acres or well over 600 square miles, in and around the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest.
Smoke from the conflagration, which fire officials suspect may have started from an unattended campfire, has drifted as far east as Iowa.
Nearly 1,000 firefighters worked on Wednesday to gain greater control over a separate large wildfire burning in the southeastern part of the state.
Officials said the Horseshoe 2 Fire had consumed nearly 107,000 acres and prompted the evacuation of two small communities. Seven structures were reported lost in that fire, which was listed as 50 percent contained.
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