Updated: 5/22/2014 By
Felicia Fonseca, Associated Press
Many residents flee Arizona towns as fire grows
As smoke billowed over
their homes, residents threatened by a growing Arizona wildfire filled their
vehicles with clothes, heirlooms, medication, legal documents and family
pictures.
The Slide Fire burns
near 89 A south of Flagstaff, Wednesday, May 21, 2014. Evacuations of
surrounding areas took place late afternoon Tuesday.
KACHINA VILLAGE, Ariz.
(AP) — As smoke billowed over their homes, residents threatened by a growing
Arizona wildfire filled their vehicles with clothes, heirlooms, medication,
legal documents and family pictures. Many of them collectively gasped when they
were told at a community meeting that a wildfire was approaching. "I'm a
Korean War veteran. There's not much that worries me," said 82-year-old
Dick Summit, who decided to leave town and arranged to stay with a friend in
nearby Flagstaff. The blaze burning in a canyon between Sedona and Flagstaff
dramatically increased in size Wednesday, serving as a reminder of the dangers
facing Arizona amid a drought that has left its forests tinder-dry. The fire
grew to an estimated 7 square miles, or about 4,500 acres, and erratic and
gusty winds grounded air tankers that were brought in to fight the fire.
Authorities warned about 3,200 residents in two communities between Sedona and
Flagstaff that they need to be ready to evacuate if the fire makes another
advance. "It's pretty bad, we're all ready," said Ken Patrick, a
Flagstaff city worker whose home was among those threatened by the fire.
"I don't know if we're going to wait for them to tell us to get out of
here. It's a no-brainer."
Elsewhere in this
village of about 1,400 off Interstate 17, residents were clearing brush away
from their homes and hosing down the landscape. Search and rescue crews with
the Coconino County Sheriff's Office were going door to door while
pre-evacuation warnings were in place checking to see which residents were home
and which weren't. For those who they knew were safe, they placed a yellow
ribbon on their mailboxes.Just south, hundreds of firefighters battled the fire
that began Tuesday afternoon and was likely human caused. The fire broke out at
the start of the tourist season and closed the main road between Sedona and
Flagstaff — two cities that attract many visitors in summer months. The fire is
burning near Slide Rock State Park, a popular recreation area because of its
natural rock water slides. Sophie Lwin, of Peoria, said she had relatives from
the Los Angeles area coming in for a weekend at the Butterfly Garden Inn, which
had to evacuate because of the fire. She said the area is her favorite
destination, and she and her husband visit the Sedona area at least five times
a year. "It's Memorial Day weekend. It's going to be so hard and so
expensive to get anything anywhere else," she said.
About 500 firefighters
and other personnel are already assigned to the fire, including 15 Hotshot
crews, Coconino National Forest officials said Wednesday. There were no reports
so far of injuries or structures burned. The fire forced the evacuations of 100
threatened businesses and homes in a 2-mile stretch north of the state park,
and 15 people stayed at a shelter in Flagstaff. As the fire moved up the
canyon's steep walls, it sent up large amounts of smoke and ash and created
hazy conditions in Flagstaff, about 15 miles from the blaze. The blaze
presented several challenges for firefighters, including steep terrain, thick
pine forest, gusting winds and the drought conditions, said Bill Morse, a
Flagstaff Fire Department captain and a spokesman for firefighting managers. But
Morse said calming fire conditions in Southern California have freed up extra
crews to fight the Arizona fire. "Fortunately the fires in San Diego have
calmed down enough for the resources to be released here," Morse said. The
evacuees included Nathan and Mickella Westerfield, young honeymooners from
Phoenix who arrived at a campground in the canyon Tuesday afternoon. They were
headed into Sedona for dinner when they passed the fire, which was burning
shrubs and trees in a small valley visible from the highway.
Galvan and Associated
Press writer Paul Davenport contributed to this report from Phoenix. Copyright
2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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