Arizona, April 21 (BUS): Southwest fire managers are reckoning with strong winds that forecasters say could lead to a massive growth in wildfires this week.
The Associated Press reported that hundreds of people were evacuated in several fires that torched buildings and announced an early start to the fire season.
Fire officials said a massive fire on the outskirts of Flagstaff continued on Wednesday even though the grass and pine trees scattered around homes dried up into fields of volcanic ash, where underground roots can burn and small boulders fly into the air. Airplanes were grounded for a second day due to high winds, and a major highway in northern Arizona remained closed as smoke covered the air.
Winds are expected to pick up on Thursday after calming down a bit on Wednesday. Friday has a chance of rain but stronger winds are followed by a dry forecast for the next week, Brian Klimovsky of the National Weather Service said.
“People,” he said, “we have entered our fire season.” “It will be long this year.”
Resources are scarce around the southwest where multiple wildfires are burning. Four of the 16 high-profile national fire management teams are dedicated to fires in Arizona and New Mexico — something that fire information officer Dick Fleischman said was rare early in the season.
At a community meeting in Flagstaff, residents questioned the extent to which a small fire reported northeast of the city on Sunday afternoon had spread to more than 30 square miles (77 square kilometers) by Wednesday afternoon. Matt McGrath, an area ranger in the Coconino National Forest, said firefighters thwarted the bushfires on Sunday and did not see any active smoke or flames when they checked it again on Monday.
By Tuesday, the wind was firmly in control. He said flames emerged and jumped over the containment line, leaving firefighters and McGrath to ask themselves if they could have done something different.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. The firefighters haven’t surrounded any part of it yet.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated in Arizona and New Mexico due to wildfires.
FKN