SALON

Monday, Jun 13, 2011 7:58 PM UTC

Fight against Arizona wildfire continues

Focus of the battle is now shifting to New Mexico

By and

Topics: Natural Disasters,

Fight against Arizona wildfire continuesA photographer looks at smoke from a burnout fire as firefighters battle the Wallow Fire in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Ariz., Sunday, June 12, 2011. Roughly 7,000 residents of two eastern Arizona towns evacuated last week as a wildfire loomed nearby were allowed to return home Sunday as officials expressed confidence that they were making progress in their battle against the huge blaze that has been burning since May. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) (Credit: AP)

The focus of the battle against a massive wildfire burning in eastern Arizona shifted to New Mexico on Monday as crews lit fires around the town of Luna to stop the flames.

Efforts to stop the fire from spreading finally met with success over the weekend as high winds didn’t lead to major growth of the blaze that has been burning since Memorial Day.

Residents of two Arizona towns on the northern edge of the fire were allowed to go back home Sunday, and thousands streamed into Eagar and Springerville through the day. Fire crews have stopped its northern advance and are now trying to corral its eastern advance into New Mexico by burning a line in front of the fire that it can’t cross.

In Luna, N.M., about five miles from the Arizona line, crews lit fires around the town to keep the flames from getting into town, Catron County Undersheriff Ian Fletcher said Monday. The operation began Sunday night, and the 200 or so residents did not have to leave. Fletcher said an evacuation plan is in place in case the situation changes.

“It’s holding, and they’re pretty confident this morning,” Fletcher told The Associated Press.

“These guys are getting after it, it’s kinda neat to see,’ he said. “I was concerned earlier, but they seem to have it wrapped up pretty well, or it’s going well for them right now.”

Several other fires also were burning around Arizona on Monday, and a 2,700-acre wildfire near the New Mexico-Colorado border was threatening about 200 homes and businesses and forced the closure of Interstate 25.

The eastern Arizona fire had grown to 706 square miles by Monday morning, or more than 452,000 acres, and was 10 percent contained. But firefighters have been sounding increasingly confident at their daily briefings that their efforts were paying off.

The Wallow Fire is the second largest in state history, although it has burned only 31 homes and four commercial buildings, a fraction of the largest. That fire was the 2002 Rodeo-Chediski, which burned 732 square miles and destroyed 491 buildings.

Although about 7,000 residents of Eagar and Springerville were allowed to go home, about 2,700 others who live in several Arizona resort communities in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest remained under an evacuation order.

The hamlets of Alpine, Nutrioso and Greer were the largest, and fire officials said Monday they were working to make the areas safe for residents to go home, possibly later this week.

The dangers include burned trees that could snap or blow over in winds, said Mark Wade, commanding the fire effort in Greer.

That town, considered the jewel of eastern Arizona’s summer havens, lost more than 20 homes as flame moved into the valley last week. It includes lodges and hundreds of old and new cabins, including one owned by U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, who was forced to evacuate on June 4.

Despite losing the homes and a couple of dozen outbuildings, the fire did not move into the Greer valley itself.

“Greer is not as bad as a lot of people are making it sound to be,” wade said.

Other Arizona fires that continue burning include a huge blaze near the southeastern border town of Portal that has burned more than 232 square miles since it broke out May 8. It is about 50 percent contained. Another fire that broke out Sunday outside Sierra Vista near the Coronado National Memorial has forced evacuations.

The southern Colorado wildfire forced the evacuation of a church camp. Crews were attacking the fire near Westcliffe from the air Monday. It broke out Sunday afternoon and spread quickly in dry conditions. In southeastern Colorado, crews are close to containing three large wildfires that broke out last week.

Southbound Interstate 25 south of Trinidad is closed because of a wildfire burning in New Mexico near Raton Pass.

Interstate 25 remains closed through the Raton Pass of northeastern New Mexico because of a wildfire. The highway is closed from Trinidad, Colo., to Raton. New Mexico forestry officials say the Track fire has burned an estimated 2,700 acres.

——

Christie reported from Phoenix

More Brian Skoloff.

More Bob Christie.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 3 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations