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Arizona Declares State of Emergency as Tunnel Fire Grows
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April 22, 2022
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0:34Now PlayingFirefighters fanned out across blackened landscape in Arizona's high country, digging into the ground to put out smoldering tree stumps and roots as helicopters buzzed overhead with buckets of water to drop on a massive blaze.
The work has been tedious and steady — all with the recognition that already strong winds will become stronger Friday and a shift over the weekend could turn the blaze back toward a mountainous tourist town.
The 32-square-mile (83-square kilometer) blaze outside Flagstaff is one of a half-dozen major wildfires that have raced across Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado over the past week. Forecasters have warned that above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation combined with spring winds have elevated the chances for more catastrophic fires.
By Tuesday, the wind was firmly in control. Flames emerged and jumped the containment line.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Smoldering stumps dotted the area where the fire was believed to have started.
Preston Mercer, a fire management specialist with the Coconino National Forest, remembers standing on the same patch of ground in 2010, fighting another large blaze. Like that one, this fire has been taking advantage of dry vegetation and fierce winds.
"The environment is not very friendly. It was blowing 70 mph. Rocks were hitting everybody in the face. It was very smoky and we were working directly in the heat," he said of the conditions this week. "These guys are working incredibly hard. They know the values at risk. This is their community."
In neighboring New Mexico, crews were battling several fires, including two that had forced a small number of evacuations and one that was threatening natural gas and telecommunication lines.
The fire danger also remained high in southern Colorado, where a wildfire destroyed an unknown number of homes on Wednesday in Monte Vista, a community of about 4,150 people surrounded by farm fields. Despite strong winds, firefighters stopped the fire from spreading by the evening but hot spots remained.
Officials there said they were still assessing the damage Thursday but noted that six families had been displaced by the fire.
About 25 structures have been lost in the Flagstaff-area fire. Coconino County officials late Wednesday pointed residents to a system where they could seek help with food, temporary housing and other needs. Some 765 homes were evacuated.
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