Arizona wildfire scorches 148,299 acres of land

Phoenix, June 17 (IANS) A massive wildfire raging in the US state of Arizona had scorched 148,299 acres of land with 59 per cent containment, according to the latest information updated by Inciweb, an interstate incident information system.The wildfire, dubbed Telegraph Fire, started on June 10 in Pinal County and located less than 1 mile from the 250-person community, Top-of-the-World, reports Xinhua news agency. It has become the sixth largest wildfire in Arizona history.Over 1,000 crews were fighting the blaze, Inciweb said on Wednesday. However, firefighters lost more ground overnight to it, which grew from 139,615 acres burned on Tuesday evening and containment dropped to 59 per cent from 68 per cent earlier.Crews had little help from the hot, dry weather, Pinal County Emergency Management Director Chuck Kmet said in a briefingt. "Right now it's too dangerous, too active to send any of our damage-assessment folks."The firefighters focused on protecting Top-of-the-World and other communities near the mountain area torched by the fire.According to local Fox 10 news channel Wednesday noon, officials disclosed the fire had merged with the Mescal Fire. It could be good news for firefighters because the fire is moving into an area of the Mescal Fire that has already burned.With no size increase in four days, the Mescal Fire incident management team issued its final daily update Monday. The blaze to the east of the Telegraph Fire had consumed 72,250 acres with 88 percent containment at the time.Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has called a special session of the Legislature to consider a proposed $100 million investment in combating and preventing wildfires. He also issued emergency declarations for the Telegraph Fire and Mescal Fire, making available up to $400,000 for response efforts.
--IANS ksk/