Tucson Region

Crews quickly attack 3 Mt. Graham fires

Lightning sparked three small wildfires on Mount Graham Tuesday, prompting a substantial initial attack by firefighters - including five crews of elite "hotshots." The three blazes, known collectively as the Noon Complex, had burned only 3 to 8 acres by Wednesday evening. "It really hasn't grown in the last 24 hours," said Marylee Peterson of the Coronado National Forest. "They're feeling good about the way it's going. . . . They do feel like it's behaving like they want it to." Smoke was visible from nearby Safford, Peterson said, but the fire isn't threatening any of the roughly 100 structures in the Pinaleno Mountains, 75 miles northeast of Tucson. The fire also isn't threatening the Mount Graham International Observatory, home to two completed telescopes and the $110 million Large Binocular Telescope that the University of Arizona is still building. The fires are named for Noon Creek, which plummets northeast from 10,022-foot Heliograph Peak, home to numerous radio towers. But the exact location and elevation of the blazes were unavailable, Peterson said. Three helicopters, five hotshot crews and one so-called type-II fire crew were working to contain the fires. Crews typically have 20 firefighters each, and the area's rugged terrain forced them to either hike to the fire lines or be taken there by helicopter. For years, fire officials have feared that a major blaze in the Pinalenos could wipe out the telescopes and habitat for the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel. The forests of Southern Arizona's tallest mountain are stressed by drought, overgrown from decades of fire suppression and plagued by insect outbreaks. Although Tuesday's influx of moisture was enough to generate lightning, the National Weather Service said no measurable rain fell in the Pinalenos. Tuesday's lighting sparked at least 17 wildfires in Arizona and New Mexico, but all remained small, according to the government's Southwest Coordination Center in Albuquerque. Forecasters said thunderstorms with gusty winds and "dry lightning" should taper off by the weekend in Southeast Arizona.