More than 2,000 firefighters are combating the Wallow Fire that has consumed 144,000 acres in eastern Arizona, forced residents to flee a handful of communities and put others on the verge of evacuation.

In mid-afternoon Sunday, the Apache County Sheriff's Office said it has ordered the evacuation of the several subdivisions along Arizona 180 near the New Mexico state line and Arizona 191. It was not immediately clear how many residents or structures were involved in the evacuation of Escudilla Mountain Estates, Bonita, Dog Patch, and the H-V Ranch.


As the community of Greer stands ready on a pre-evacuation alert, crews fighting the Wallow Fire continued to fret about warnings of high winds and dry lightning for Sunday afternoon. Fire officials re-calibrated the fire size at 144,000 acres after earlier reports of 184,000 acres proved premature; they said the erroneous numbers may have included areas that fire crews deliberately burned back toward the main fire to rob it of fuel.

Windy, lightning conditions would likely ground aircraft battling the week-old blaze, which is now thought to have been sparked by an abandoned campfire, said Eric Nietzel, a spokesman with the Show Low Fire Department.

"The only non-human causes of wildfire are meteors, volcanoes and lightning. We are taking advantage of the calm winds, which will allow for a direct attack of the Nutrioso and Alpine areas," Nietzel on Sunday morning.

However, wind gusts of up to 35 to 45 mph were expected throughout the region in the afternoon, according to the Weather Service.

"Today we are doing indirect firefighting, which means we are going ahead of the fire and trying to box it in," Nietzel said.

Fire officials flew over the fire last night with infrared cameras to estimate how much it has grown, but updated figures have not yet been released. It has cost an estimated $5.3 million to battle the blaze.

In the meantime, fire crews continue to focus efforts on the community of Greer, which is under a voluntary evacuation alert. Brad Pitassi, a Southwest Type 1 incident management team spokesman, said the community currently resembles a "ghost town."

The blaze was 8 miles from Greer on Saturday. If flames come within 6 miles of the town it would trigger a full-scale evacuation.

"The problem with Greer is that there's only one way in and one way out," Nietzel said.

Fire crews completed a 30-mile burnout operation from Nutrioso to State Road 261 to protect Big Lake and Greer, said Kelly Wood, a Type 1 team spokesman.

There are 2,140 fire personnel battling the fire, which is the third-largest in Arizona history. Additional crews were to depart Sunday morning for the blaze, which isn't contained.

According to fire officials, the following communities have been evacuated: Alpine, Nuntrioso, Hannagan Meadow Lodge, Sprucedale Guest Ranch, Brentwood Church Camp, Hannagan campground, KP campground, West Fork Black River campground, East Fork Black River campground.

During a community meeting with fire officials Saturday evening, residents voiced growing frustration about the lack of information from officials. Since Friday, when federal fire teams took over the operation, two community meetings have been held to inform residents.

"We're using the post office in Eagar" where several evacuated residents pick up their mail, said Peter Frenzen, a spokesman with the Type 1 team. "We've got an information officer there to answer questions. We're trying to focus on person-to-person contact."

Fire officials encouraged residents to check the Inciweb website.

While efforts continue against the Wallow Fire, 976 firefighters and favorable weather conditions helped slow the Horseshoe Two Fire, which is 55 percent contained and burning about 200 miles south near Paradise and Portal.

The Horseshoe Two Fire began May 8 and has charred 100,200 acres and continues to threaten the communities of Paradise, Methodist Camp, Whitetail Canyon and West Turkey Creek, said Dave Killebrew, a spokesman with a Type 1 Incident Management team battling the blaze.

"The fire has burned around Paradise, with no structures lost and it hasn't reached the Whitetail Canyon area where there are additional residences," Killebrew said. "We still consider Paradise and residences in East Whitetail Canyon to be threatened, but we have resources placed to protect those areas."

Paradise and Whitetail remain evacuated today and the Chiricahua National Monument has been closed to visitors.

Also burning is the Murphy Fire, which has consumed 22,000 acres northeast of Nogales, near Arivaca and Tubac, according to fire officials. That fire is believed to be human-caused and was sparked May 30. About 313 fire personnel are battling the blaze, which is 15 percent contained.

Fire crews are working Sunday to protect Tubac and Rio Rico subdivisions as burnout operations continue southwest towards Pena Blanco Lake and the Atascosa Mountains in the southern portion of the fire.