SEDONA, Ariz., June 22 (UPI) -- Firefighters in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico battled wildfires Thursday that have been spreading all week across tinder-dry countryside.
In Sedona, Ariz., firefighters had mostly stopped a fire working its way north using a highway as a fire break, but incident commander Paul Broyles told CNN there was a minor breach, which he said has potential to reach Flagstaff, northern Arizona's largest city, about 25 miles away. The fire has consumed about 2,500 acres, the report said.
In southern Colorado, firefighter battling an 11,800-acre fire just west of Pueblo had help from shifting winds Wednesday, the Pueblo Chieftain reported Thursday.
The U.S. Forest Service said firefighters had a 13,400-acre fire in California's Los Padres National Forest, near Cuyama, about 32 percent contained, CNN said.
In southwestern New Mexico, the National Fire Information Center said there was zero containment of a 24,300-acre fire in Gila National Forest, 17 miles northeast of Glenwood.
The NFIC said wildfires this year have scorched 3,123,689 acres nationwide, more than four times last year's total for the same period.
