Summit County Citizens Voice

The Wallow Fire continues to spread quickly to the north and east.

More evacuations and no containment yet at 190,000-acre blaze in east-central Arizona

SUMMIT COUNTY — The Wallow Fire, in east-central Arizona, grew to almost 200,000 acres Sunday. In extreme fire weather, wind-driven embers crossed Highway 191,  resulting in a flurry of fire activity in Alpine and Nutrioso, according to the most recent Inciweb update.

The fire is now at 192,000 acres and continues to grow, with more evacuations and pre-evacuation orders in subdivisions along Highway 180/191. As of 2 p.m. Sunday, the fire was zero percent contained.

The entire Apache National Forest is closed to all public entry, but property owners and their guests will have access to private lands within the forest. For details, see the Apache National Forest website.

Because of the extreme fire weather, a red flag warning will be in effect Monday, June 6, from 10 a.m. through 8 p.m.

A June 1 wall smoke from the Wallow Fire as seen by an area resident. PHOTO COURTESY KAY DYSON. Click on the image to see the Wallow Fire photo gallery at Inciweb.

Firefighters are focusing on saving structures in communities that are in harms way. About 2,140 firefighters are on scene, including 31 hotshot crews and 25 handcrews, 12 bulldozers, 138 engines, 31 watertenders and 20 helicopters.

Firefighers conducted about 30 miles of burnout operations to try and establish a perimeter for the fire.

Nationally, there were 14 new large fires reported during the weekend. Currently, there are 11 large fires in Alaska, six in Arizona, three in Florida, two in Georgia and five in New Mexico. Fires across the county have burned more than 3 million acres, more than three times the average for this time of year.

Filed under: climate and weather, Colorado, Environment, forest fires, forests, global warming Tagged: | Arizona fire, Arizona wildfires, photos of Arizona wildfires, Wallow Fire, Wallow Fire maps, wildlfire photos