A rainbow spans the sky over the Rafael Fire Task Force. (Megan Jackson photo via InciWeb)
FLAGSTAFF, Arizona (AP) – Recent rains and progress in containing two major forest fires that threatened several communities in the Arizona highlands allow authorities to reduce operations in some areas.
The senior incident management team assigned to a fire threatening Pine and Strawberry in east central Arizona turned command to local units on Thursday, and a similar transition to a subordinate team takes place on Friday for wildfire southwest from Flagstaff in. instead of northern Arizona.
The backbone fire west of Pine and Strawberry was contained around 76% of its extent on Wednesday, while the Rafael Fire southwest of Flagstaff was 89% contained on Thursday.
Lightning started both fires and each burned tens of thousands of acres.
Crews assigned to these fires mopped up, patrolled and searched for remaining hot spots, officials said in separate statements.
Despite progress, several other fires continued to burn across the state, mostly in remote areas, and authorities issued statements reminding the public that several National Forests were closed to the public due to the ongoing fire hazard and that fireworks were in the midst of the persistent drought posed a threat.
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