TUCSON, Ariz. – Crews worked Saturday to protect several small communities from two large wildfires by clearing away brush near homes and planning to set fires aimed at robbing the blazes of forest fuels.
The Wallow fire near the White Mountain community of Alpine grew to 218 square miles, or more than 140,000 acres, by Saturday morning.
The fire is the third largest in state history, with smoke from it visible in parts of southern Colorado. Officials said they had zero containment of the fire near the New Mexico-Arizona state line, which has forced an unknown number of people to evacuate.
Crews were working to protect homes in Alpine and nearby Nutrioso from the fire and blowing embers that could start smaller spot fires.
Crews were also trying to protect a church camp and two communities from the Horseshoe Two fire that had burned 140 square miles in far southern Arizona. It’s the fifth-largest fire in state history.
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