Mt. Graham fire finally contained

A wildfire on Mount Graham was contained yesterday after scorching 6,317 acres and sweeping within 200 yards of a multimillion-dollar telescope complex.

Dry conditions forced officials to restrict smoking and all open fires in the Coronado National Forest.

Meanwhile, U.S. Forest Service officials announced a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever started the Lone fire that burned more than 61,000 acres in the Tonto National Forest east of Phoenix before being brought under control late last week.

Tonto National Forest officials said they were looking for three people seen traveling together in a four-wheel-drive vehicle in the Four Peaks area where the Lone fire broke out on April 27.

The trio were described as an Asian woman, 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-7 with a thin build and long black hair; a small Asian girl, 8 to 12 years of age; and a 6-foot, 210-pound white male, about 35 years old, with long brown hair worn in a pony tail.

Firefighters completed a protective line yesterday around the two-week-old Clark Peak fire on Mount Graham. Mount Graham is northeast of Tucson in the Coronado National Forest near Safford.

The cost of fighting the human-caused blaze exceeded $5 million, officials estimated.

As many as 1,120 firefighters from across the country battled the flames in steep terrain up to the 10,600-foot level. Yesterday, about 900 firefighters remained, said Diane Maxwell, a Coronado National Forest spokeswoman.

Firefighters will spend the next few weeks mopping up, or making sure no smoldering trees or embers flare up, Maxwell said.

A large number of dead pine trees - killed by the round-headed pine beetle - and hot, dry weather fueled the blaze.

The fire, the first major one this season in the Coronado National Forest, started burning south of Riggs Lake near Merrill Peak.

The area is home to Mexican spotted owls, northern goshawks and Mount Graham red squirrels.

Biologists will investigate the environmental effects once the fire is out, Maxwell said.

Officials said the fire came within 200 yards of the two completed Mount Graham telescopes: the $8 million Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope, a UA-Max Planck Institute collaboration; and the $3 million Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, a UA-Vatican Observatory project.

The blazed also burned within an estimated 500 yards of 15 summer cabins in the area, Maxwell said.

Starting tomorrow, all open fires will be prohibited in the Coronado National Forest. Campfires, cooking fires, coal and wood stoves and charcoal fires will be barred.

Pressurized liquid or gas stoves will be permitted, Maxwell said.

Smoking will be prohibited as well, she said. Smokers must light up in their cars or clear a 3-foot area down to the soil, she said.

Violations will be punishable by up to $10,000 in fines and six months in prison.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.