Crews try to protect Arizona communities from fires

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Crews in Arizona worked Saturday to protect several small communities from two large wildfires by clearing away brush near homes and planning to set fires aimed at robbing the blazes of forest fuels.

The Wallow Fire near the White Mountain community of Alpine grew to 218 square miles, or more than 140,000 acres, by Saturday morning.

The fire is the third largest in state history, with smoke from it visible in parts of southern Colorado.

Fire officials said they had zero containment of the fire near the New Mexico-Arizona state line, which has forced an unknown number of people to evacuate.

Crews were working to protect homes in Alpine and nearby Nutrioso from the fire and blowing embers that could start smaller, spot fires. The fire had reached Alpine's outskirts and was more than two miles away from homes in Nutrioso, said Bob Dyson, a spokesman for the team fighting the blaze.

Authorities warned residents of the town of Greer on Friday night to be ready to leave, but no evacuation order has been issued. Greer has fewer than 200 permanent residents but the town and area attract many vacationers.

The U.S. Forest Service said that four summer rental cabins burned earlier in the fire.

The fire ranks just behind the state's two largest wildfires in terms of size.

The largest was the 469,000-acre Rodeo-Chediski in 2002, followed by the 248,000-acre Cave Creek complex fire in 2005.