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PHOENIX, June 20 (UPI) -- Firefighters battling three large wildfires in Arizona will get a bit of help from the weather this week, authorities said Monday. The National Weather Service said the region can expect calmer winds and rising humidity this week. Temperatures, however, are forecast to remain in the 90s or higher throughout the week, CNN reported.
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The Monument fire in southern Arizona broke through containment lines, jumped a highway and destroyed an unknown number of buildings, firefighters said.
The fire, which started about a week ago, fanned across 27,000 acres and was 27 percent contained. It had destroyed more than 40 homes and other structures.
"Structures have been lost. I don't have any idea as to how many. I'm hoping it is minimal," said Chief Deputy Rod Rothrock of the Cochise County Sheriff's Office. "We may have lost some homes out there; we don't know yet but at least we haven't lost them all."
In northern Arizona, a new fire flared Sunday afternoon on the Sitgreaves side of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests, The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic reported. The blaze, called the Willow fire, had burned about 360 acres, officials said.
The monster Wallow Fire, the largest in Arizona history, was 51 percent contained Sunday, having burned through more than 511,000 acres in Arizona and New Mexico.
The fire had jumped one line near Luna, N.M., but firefighters were keeping it on the northwestern side of New Mexico Route 19, fire officials said. Residents had been evacuated and the fire had not reached the town.
Residents of Greer began returning to their homes after being forced out because of the Wallow blaze, the White Mountain Independent of Slow Low, Ariz., reported.
Firefighters said they thought they were making progress containing the Monument fire before it re-ignited Sunday.
Crews withstood blistering heat and wind to try to save what structures they could, Greg Poncin, the Monument fire's incident commander, told the Republic.
"There was some fantastic firefighting going on," he said. "I know we've lost some [structures], but we have saved a tremendous number."
In Texas, firefighters from at least nine agencies battled the Bearing fire in Trinity and Polk counties, the Texas Forest Service said in a release.
The 14,000-acre blaze, burning since Friday, is one of the largest in east Texas history, the agency said.
"It's important for East Texans to recognize the critical fire conditions we are experiencing," said Karen Stafford, regional wildland urban interface coordinator for the Texas Forest Service. "There is high probability of ignition if a spark occurs."
