Crews brace for strong winds, explosive fire growth in West

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Firefighters fanned out across blackened landscape in Arizona’s high country, digging into the ground to put out smoldering tree stumps and roots as helicopters buzzed overhead with buckets of water to drop on a massive blaze.

The work has been tedious and steady — all with the recognition that already strong winds will become stronger Friday and a shift over the weekend could turn the blaze back toward a mountainous tourist town.

The 32-square-mile (83-square kilometer) blaze outside Flagstaff is one of a half-dozen major wildfires that have raced across Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado over the past week. Forecasters have warned that above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation combined with spring winds have elevated the chances for more catastrophic fires.

Red flag warnings of critical fire conditions were issued Thursday for much of northern Arizona 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."

Neither officials nor residents have been able to fully survey the damage near Flagstaff, as crews on Thursday were busy wrestling a spot fire and trying to keep the flames from running up the mountainside. If that were to happen, it would mean a much bigger fire with long-term consequences such as erosion and flooding.

Still, spirits were lifted Thursday as helicopters for the first time were able to start dropping water on the flames.

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