Firefighters gaining ground in Arizona
Residents of two towns being allowed to return
SPRINGERVILLE, Ariz. – Firefighters on Sunday expressed the first real sense of hope that they were making progress in their battle against a huge eastern Arizona wildfire burning since late May, and officials began allowing roughly 7,000 residents to return home to two towns threatened for days by the blaze.
To guard against flare-ups, fire crews remained in Springerville and the nearby town of Eagar, the two communities where evacuation orders were lifted over the weekend. But the blaze was “no longer a threat to the citizens” returning home, said Apache County sheriff’s Cmdr. Webb Hogle, although authorities still cautioned the elderly and those with health problems or very young children to stay away because of lingering smoke.
“We’ve been praying every day to come home,” Springerville resident Valarina Walker, 49, said Sunday while chatting with other returning locals outside a convenience store in town.
About 2,700 other people who live in several resort communities in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest remained under an evacuation order.
Meanwhile, firefighters stopped short of jubilation Sunday morning, but said they were finally gaining ground against the entire 693-square-mile inferno that was running along the New Mexico state line, even as the winds picked up considerably and containment remained at just 6 percent.
“Everything is holding,” Fire Operations Chief Jerome Macdonald said. “Compared to what we’ve been dealing with just two days ago … we’re feeling a lot more confident. We turned a corner.”
Macdonald said strong winds have actually helped firefighters as the gusts burned off fuel in the central part of the blaze before it reached their fire lines. He expected fire containment to go up to 10 percent when new figures were released this morning.
Fire is burning in New Mexico, but it was started intentionally by crews trying to burn out fuel in front of the approaching blaze.
“We were not going to let the fire dictate to us when it crossed the line,” Jerry Kelly, a fire information officer working on the eastern front of the fire, said Sunday. “We were going to make the decision when and where that happened.”
About 30 homes and cabins have been destroyed since the fire began May 29.
The small New Mexico town of Luna, just across the state line, also remained under threat. About 150 New Mexico National Guard soldiers were assisting crews with evacuations and security.
Officials were still warning residents as far away as Albuquerque and Santa Fe, of severe air quality issues from the smoke.