Crews Struggle to Contain Ariz. Fire

TUCSON —  Fire crews thinned and burned trees near a highway Monday, hoping to cut off fuel to a 17,600-acre wildfire that had crept within a half-mile of 175 Mt. Lemmon homes.

One firefighter was injured by a falling tree and was airlifted to a hospital. He was treated for minor injuries and released.

About 100 residents were evacuated Sunday as high wind hampered firefighters battling the blaze in the Coronado National Forest.

The fire hadn’t damaged any structures but it had the potential to threaten all 700 homes and 15 businesses, authorities said.

Mt. Lemmon Highway could remain closed for up to a week, officials said.

“The road is the only good place to stop the fire,” said Heidi Schewel, a Coronado National Forest spokeswoman.

Forest Service officials said there is a 75% chance the cleared area along the highway will stop the fire, which was 40% contained on Monday.

Those evacuated were mostly full-time residents, said Dean Barnella, chief of the Mt. Lemmon Fire Department. The rest of the home and cabin owners in the area are part-time residents who either weren’t there or left earlier in the week.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors has declared a state of emergency, making the county eligible for government aid.

The fire was first spotted May 21 and is believed to be human-caused.

In New Mexico, a wildfire burning in the rugged Pecos Wilderness of the Santa Fe National Forest and on private land had scorched 12,500 acres by Monday. Firefighters had contained 35% of the blaze and got a break Monday from higher humidity.

The fire, first reported Wednesday, is burning mixed conifer and aspen trees.

“Of course, with the increased humidity, we are not getting the kind of heat that we [were] getting previously,” said Cathie Schmidlin, a fire information officer.