The Hindu : Wildfire rages on

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 26, 2002

International

International

Wildfire rages on

SHOW LOW (Arizona): An explosive 1,280-sq-km wildfire burned nearly to the doorstep of this evacuated mountain town on Monday as ash rained down on crews desperately fighting to hold back the flames. The largest fire in Arizona history burned to within less than a kilometre of this town of 7,700 by Monday night. It had already destroyed at least 375 houses, most of them in Heber-Overgaard, a community 56 km west of Show Low that burned over the weekend. Still, it was the first day in five that no structures were lost, said a fire spokesman. ``We're back to fighting this fire,'' he said. ``It's been beating us up for a week and we're back to fighting this monster.'' Firefighters in Show Low faced two dire possibilities, depending on the weather: a wind-blown wall of flame that could overrun the town, or drifting embers that could start smaller fires across the community. Smoke spiralled into a hazy sky on Monday and the sun cast a dull orange glow. In neighbourhoods nearest the fire, many homes with too much underbrush or wood shingles were marked with red flags to show there was no use trying to save them.

— AP

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