Strong winds fan Arizona wildfires

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PHOENIX: Strong winds hamper efforts to battle massive Arizona fires. Firefighters battling a monster blaze in eastern Arizona faced a second day of strong winds buffeting the area on Friday (June 2), testing hard-fought gains made on the largest fire in state history

More than 4,400 firefighters were deployed on the 20th day of the blaze amid predictions of low humidity and gusty winds in and around the fire-ravaged Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest.

A red flag warning is in effect for the area on Friday, with forecasts of sustained winds from 15 to 25 miles per hour (24 to 40 kilometers per hour) and gusts of up to 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour.

Officials said on Friday that the Wallow Fire has claimed more than 495,000 acres or 774 square miles (1245 square kilometers) of pine-studded acreage in the heart of Arizona's White Mountains, with fire crews able to muster containment around roughly a third of the blaze.

The fire has destroyed or damaged three dozen homes and displaced up to 10,000 people at its peak, raging through a picturesque area near the New Mexico border dotted with vacation cabins that is a popular retreat for those escaping the state's summer heat.

The massive fires erupted on May 29, apparently from a campfire left unattended in a thickly wooded stretch of the Bear Wallow Wilderness area, just east of the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation.