Fires in Arizona Have Crews Working Hard, Residents Evacuating

Fire crews worked tirelessly throughout Wednesday and all day yesterday to extinguish and fight wildfires that threatened Springerville and Greer the latter a mountain resort town. Even with the efforts of rescue crews and firefighters, several homes were destroyed but, on balance, the damage could have been much worse. Arizona official Suzanne Flory noted that work overnight went very well. Noted Flory, "Firefighters had a good stand and were able to protect the main part of town, but structures were lost."

Crews spent all day yesterday continuing to protect the homes and cabins in the valley in the region, and with winds slated to blow toward the east , crews were concerned about their ability to continue to contain the blaze. Noted Jim Whittington, a spokesman for the state’s fire services, "We know it’s going to grow today, because there’s a lot of uncontrolled fire line out there, there’s a lot of heat out there and there’s a lot of vegetation." An air tanker and helicopters were engaged yesterday afternoon to lay down fire retardant in wide swaths.

Noted one resident in the area, Allan Johnson, "I just thank God I haven’t heard of any injuries, and thank God they were able to stay in there and do what they can to protect Greer. It’s such a beautiful area." The fire that continues to burn in the region started on May 29 and has thus far hit 525 square miles in the state. It is already the second largest fire in Arizona’s history.