Winds could lead to fire growth

FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. » Lisa Wells looked out the window of her home office and saw a plume of smoke. Before long, the smoke blackened, the wind intensified and entire trees were consumed by flames.

In what felt like seconds, her family moved Tuesday from a get-ready-to-go status to go now. She managed to gather important medication and move their horses, alpacas and dogs to safety.

The home they bought 15 years ago on the outskirts of Flagstaff didn’t survive. Fierce winds picked up embers that hopscotched across neighborhoods, destroying some homes and leaving others unscathed.

“It was a miracle that people got out because we had so little time,” Wells said Wednesday, standing in a parking lot that has become a gathering spot for the evacuated communities.

Neither officials nor residents have been able to fully survey the damage, partly because the forecast has even stronger winds in store that experts say could lead to more explosive fire growth.

And the risk isn’t limited to Arizona. The 32 squaremile (83-square kilometer) blaze outside Flagstaff is one of a half-dozen major wildfires that have raced across Arizona and New Mexico the last few days.

Red flag warnings of critical fire conditions were issued Thursday for much of northern Arizona, including the Flagstaff area, and large portions of New Mexico as state and federal officials scrambled to get more crews on the front lines.

With expected wind conditions, “it will prove challenging to put in those containment lines to stop fire growth,” said Jerolyn Byrne, a spokesperson for the team working the Flagstaff-area fire. “We’ll see some growth on the fire.”

At a community meeting in Flagstaff on Wednesday evening, Brian Klimowski of the National Weather Service declared the start of the fire season and said “it’s going to be a long one this year.”

Hundreds of people have been evacuated because of wildfires burning in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado. Popular lakes and national monuments have been closed — some because fire has moved directly over them.