‘Wall of fire’ forces evacuations near Arizona tourist town

By FELICIA FONSECA
Associated Press

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Winds kicked up a towering wall of flames in rural northern Arizona on Tuesday, tearing through two-dozen structures and forcing the evacuation of more than 700 homes. Coconino County declared an emergency as the fast-moving wildfire on the outskirts of Flagstaff ballooned to over 9 square miles. Forest Service officials say flames as high as 100 feet quickly scorched dry grass, shrubs and Ponderosa pine trees. More than 750 homes and 1,000 animals have been evacuated. Smoke billowed into the air Tuesday in a scene reminiscent of a dozen years ago when a much-larger fire burned in the area. Elsewhere in Arizona, firefighters battled a wildfire in a sparsely populated area of national forest south of Prescott.