Wind-fueled wildfire drives Arizona residents from homes

By FELICIA FONSECA
Associated Press

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A fast-moving wildfire in rural northern Arizona ballooned to over 9 square miles Tuesday as winds whipped the flames, shut down a major highway and grounded aircraft that could drop water and fire retardant. A couple of hundred homes north of Flagstaff were evacuated, and residents recalled scrambling to pack their bags and flee while contending with gusts of up to 50 mph. Elsewhere in Arizona, firefighters battled a wildfire in a sparsely populated area of the Prescott National Forest south of Prescott. In southern Arizona, a principal highway between Bisbee and Sierra Vista reopened Tuesday after being shut down because of a brush fire.