May 28, 2002 2 min read

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Fire crews thinned and burned trees near a highway on Monday hoping to cut off fuel to a 14,500-acre wildfire that had crept within a half-mile of 175 Mount Lemmon homes. One firefighter was injured by a falling tree and was airlifted to a hospital. Officials did not immediately release his condition.

About 100 residents were evacuated Sunday as high wind hampered firefighters battling the blaze in the Coronado National Forest.

The fire hadn’t damaged any structures but it had the potential to threaten all 700 homes and 15 businesses, authorities said.

Mount Lemmon Highway could remain closed for up to a week, officials said.

“The road is the only good place to stop the fire,” said Heidi Schewel, a Coronado National Forest spokeswoman.

Forest Service officials said there is a 75 percent chance the cleared area along the highway will stop the fire, which was 40 percent contained on Monday.

Those evacuated were mostly full-time residents, said Dean Barnella, chief of the Mount Lemmon Fire Department. The rest of the home and cabin owners in the area are part-time residents who either weren’t there or left earlier in the week.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors has declared a state of emergency, making the county eligible for government aid.

The fire was first spotted last Tuesday and is believed to be human-caused.

In New Mexico, a wildfire burning in the rugged Pecos Wilderness of the Santa Fe National Forest and on private land had scorched 12,500 acres by Monday. Firefighters had contained 35 percent of the blaze and got a break Monday from higher humidity.

The fire, first reported Wednesday, is burning mixed conifer and aspen trees.

“Of course, with the increased humidities, we are not getting the kind of heat that we are getting previously,” said Cathie Schmidlin, fire information officer.

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On the Net:

National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov/