24 structures burned, hundreds evacuated in Arizona inferno
At least two dozen structures have been destroyed in a fast-moving wildfire in rural northern Arizona that ballooned to over 9 square miles (23 square kilometers) Tuesday, Coconino County Sheriff Jim Driscoll said during a news conference.
The county declared an emergency Tuesday as winds whipped the flames, shut down a major highway and grounded aircraft that could drop water and fire retardant. County officials said 766 homes and 1,000 animals have been evacuated.
A couple of hundred homes are still threatened as smoke billowed into the air in an all-too-familiar scene. Residents recalled scrambling to pack their bags and flee a dozen years ago during a much-larger wildfire burned in the same area. Driscoll said sheriff's office got a call saying a man was trapped in his house, but that firefighters couldn't get to him.
They do not know if he survived. Flame lengths are as up as 100 feet (30 meters) high, the U.S. Forest Service said. Firefighters on Tuesday were up against 50 mph (80 kph) gusts that pushed the wildfire over the highway and weren't expected to let up much this week, authorities said.
"It's blowing hard, and we have ash falling on highway," said Coconino County sheriff's spokesman Jon Paxton. About 200 firefighters were working blaze that appeared to be moving northeast away from more heavily populated areas of Flagstaff, toward Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and volcanic cinders, said Coconino National Forest spokesman Brady Smith. "It's good in that it's not headed toward a very populated area, and it's headed toward less fuel," he said. "But depending on intensity of fire, fire can still move across cinders."
A top-level national fire management team is expected to take over later this week.Fire and law enforcement agencies that were knocking on doors to warn of evacuations Tuesday were forced to pull out to avoid getting trapped by the flames, Paxton said. Arizona Public Service Co. Shutoff power to about 625 customers to keep firefighters safe, a spokeswoman said.
(Source : The Pioneer)
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