Flames from a mammoth forest fire licked the ridges surrounding the eastern Arizona town of Eagar Tuesday afternoon, forcing the evacuation of about half the 4,000 residents as surrounding towns also prepared to empty.
People started streaming out of Eagar as sheriff's deputies and police officers directed traffic. Flames were spotted on a ridge on the southeastern side of nearby Springerville and columns of orange smoke rose from the hills. Ash rained from the sky, which was filled with thick smoke, and when the sun peeked through, it was blood red.
Angie Colwell, her husband Mike and their two children were loading up their belongings as authorities ordered their Eagar neighborhood to evacuate.
"We love the mountains, and we're just afraid of what's going to be left after the fire comes through," the longtime resident said.
The blaze has burned 486 square miles of ponderosa pine forest, driven by wind gusts of more than 60 mph since it was sparked on May 29 by what authorities believe was an unattended campfire. It officially became the second-largest in Arizona history on Tuesday.
No serious injuries have been reported, but the fire has destroyed 10 structures so far. It has cast smoke as far east as Iowa and forced some planes to divert from Albuquerque, N.M., some 200 miles away.
The smoke that fills the air here reminded some of the blistering snowstorm that swept through Greer, about 15 miles southwest, last winter, but without the chill.
The smoke blocked out the sun, made mountain roads even more treacherous, and prevented the hospital from evacuating some patients by air ambulance on Monday.
“It extends for hundreds of miles and was so bad this morning that neither the helicopter nor the fixed-wing aircraft could go up,’’ said Jerry Campeau, chief executive officer of the 25-bed White Mountain Regional Medical Center, which has had a steady stream of people coming in with respiratory problems. “We had to take patients out by road.’’
All but the main roads are shut here, and law enforcement officials have been directing evacuees to head west, toward Phoenix, and not toward Albuquerque, where the fierce winds are blowing the smoke.
Sue Chlarson and her husband spent several days packing up their home in southern Eagar, which would be one of the first consumed if the fire veered toward the town. She said those who stay behind were misguided.
“Your property is important but your life is more important,’’ she said. “What about all those people who depend on you? Is staying fair to them?.
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