Tucson Region

2 wildfires may grow until rains intervene

Two major wildfires in Arizona will keep growing and may burn until monsoon rains, but officials don't expect they'll threaten nearby structures. The 43,000-acre Willow Fire - Arizona's largest wildfire of the year - remains about six miles southwest of Payson. Firefighters have succeeded in keeping the flames south of the East Verde River and away from the towns of Pine and Strawberry, said Ron Meyer, spokesman for the fire's management team. There are about 900 people working on the blaze. "With the resources they have in place, they feel confident they'll be able to hold the fire and protect these communities," Meyer said. The lightning-caused fire, burning through grasslands, brushy chaparral and ponderosa pine forests, continues to spread west into the Tonto National Forest's rugged Mazatzal Wilderness. Much of the smoke seen by Payson residents is due to burnout operations - fires intentionally ignited by crews that are meant to deprive the main fire of fuel. The same goes for Safford residents watching the 800-acre Nuttall Fire in the Pinaleno Mountains, 75 miles northeast of Tucson. Crews have scratched a fuel break around the blaze by hand - in some places a mile from the main fire - and they've been burning out overnight, when it's not so hot and dry. "It's gives them a cooler burn than if we let the wildfire burn out to the line in the middle of the hot day," said Donna Nemeth, information officer for the team managing the fire. The lightning-caused fire is still at least five miles from the UA's telescope complex atop Mount Graham. On Thursday there were 517 people assigned to the blaze. Both fires are 5 percent contained, meaning one-twentieth of their perimeter isn't at risk of expanding. Neither has an expected date of full containment.