UPI en Español  |   UPI Asia  |   About UPI  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Progress in fighting 4 Arizona wildfires

|
 
Published: May 20, 2012 at 9:12 PM

PHOENIX, May 20 (UPI) -- Officials said Sunday they have made progress against four Arizona wildfires but they worry high temperatures and low humidity could undo it all in minutes.

The largest of the four, known as the Sunflower fire, has been burning since May 12 northeast of Phoenix. It has consumed 16,620 acres and is considered 33 percent contained as of Sunday morning, The Arizona Republic said.

The second-largest fire, named Gladiator, was started by a house fire a week ago and has 12,898 acres burning, officials said. It's considered 12 percent contained and evacuation orders remained in effect for about 350 people in towns northeast of Phoenix.

Firefighters used several helicopters Sunday night to dump water on the flames. The Gladiator fire is estimated to have caused more than $5 million in damage.

The Bullflat fire on the Fort Apache Indian reservation was started by a lightning strike May 10 and has destroyed 2,145 acres since. Firefighters say it is 90 percent contained.

The easternmost Elwood fire on the remote San Carlos Indian reservation was considered mostly contained by Sunday morning after having consumed nearly 1,506 acres, firefighters said. The cause of the Elwood fire was under investigation, the report said.

© 2012 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
'Star Trek Into Darkness' screening NBC upfronts Met Ball 2013
'Great Gatsby' premieres in New York Spire raised on top of One WTC 2013: Celebrity break ups and divorces
Additional U.S. News Stories
1 of 17
Tornado recover efforts underway in Moore, Oklahoma
View Caption
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin talks to victims from the May 20 tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma, May 22, 2013. The EF-5 tornado cut a path of destruction approximately 17 miles by 1.3 miles wide and left 24 people dead. UPI/J.P. Wilson
fark
Tesla pays back half a billion dollar federal loan a decade before it's due
FDA objects to new sleep drug because it "impairs driving", presumably by making you sleepy
Teen wins contest by producing blandest, most sterile cursive writing imaginable
Theme of Farktography Contest No. 420: "Monochromatic Masterpieces". Details and rules in first...
Photographer snaps a really great picture of a guy proposing to his lady on a cliff, decides to...
New thinga-ma-hooey keeps people from being abusive and neglecting their beer