Tucson Region

Fire 6 miles from UA scopes

A lightning-sparked wildfire on Mount Graham had burned 300 acres by late Sunday, forcing the evacuation of the Riggs Lake campground and the closure of the road into the Pinaleno Mountains. The Nuttall Fire, named for nearby Nuttall Creek, also prompted U.S. Forest Service officials to order one of the nation's Type 1 incident management teams, which handle the biggest and most dangerous wildfires. "They're being really cautious, not wanting it to spread very far," said Marylee Peterson, fire information officer for the Coronado National Forest. "It's so dry and the brush is so dense. It wouldn't take a lot to get it going." Inclement weather, including lightning, forced officials late in the day to ground the aircraft battling the blaze: six helicopters and two military C-130 air tankers that were dispatched to lay down belts of flame retardant. Peterson said they made six drops before they were grounded. Officials believed the potential for lightning strikes remained late Sunday. The fire, which was reported about 6:15 p.m. Saturday, was burning roughly six miles west-northwest of the telescope complex atop Mount Graham, and on the northwest side of the Pinalenos, 75 miles northeast of Tucson. But the blaze didn't pose a threat to the telescopes or any other structures Sunday, officials said. Seven fire crews, five of them elite "hotshots," were working to contain the fire. Firefighters reportedly rappelled to the ground from the helicopters to set up landing spots for the aircraft. The Riggs Lake campground was the only area immediately evacuated, but authorities closed Arizona 366, also known as Swift Trail, at the base of the mountain. The Nuttall Fire is burning close to where the 1996 Clark Peak Fire charred 6,716 acres. That fire burned to within 200 yards of two smaller telescopes already on Mount Graham. It took 1,200 firefighters and $7.9 million to suppress the blaze, which generated 250-foot flames. The University of Arizona still is constructing on Mount Graham its $110 million Large Binocular Telescope, which is expected to become the most powerful observatory in the world. One of the telescope's two 28-foot-wide mirrors already is in place and may see "first light" this fall. Astronomers hope the instrument will be fully operational in 2007. 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. The incoming management team, led by Dan Oltrogge, took over the tail end of last year's 84,750-acre Aspen Fire in the Santa Catalinas. The thunderstorms that have hit the Southwest in the past week have kept firefighters busy. Of the 77 fires that began in the region Saturday, 74 were caused by lightning, according to the government's Southwest Coordination Center in Albuquerque. Last Tuesday, lightning started three small fires in the Pinalenos. The blazes, known collectively as the Noon Complex, burned only 15 to 20 acres, but four firefighters were injured by a lightning strike as they worked on mop-up operations Thursday. Other Arizona fires

● Dry vegetation in harsh terrain helped fuel the growth of a wildfire in the Tonto National Forest northeast of Phoenix to at least 12,000 acres, officials said. The Willow Fire could be as large as 14,000 acres, but officials were waiting for flyovers to determine the blaze's size and boundary. Containment was less than 10 percent. ● A fire burning in the Agua Fria National Monument had charred 1,000 acres by Sunday night. The blaze, burning 12 miles northeast of Black Canyon City, was 30 percent contained, and officials expected full containment by today.