Wildfire within a mile of abandoned Arizona community

SHOW LOW, Ariz. -- An explosive, 500-square-mile wildfire burned nearly to the doorstep of this evacuated mountain town Monday as ash rained down in an eerie shower on crews desperately fighting to hold back the flames.

The largest fire in Arizona history burned to within a mile of this town of 7,700 by midday. It had already destroyed at least 329 houses and 16 businesses, most of them in Heber-Overgaard, a community 35 miles west of Show Low that burned over the weekend.

Firefighters in Show Low faced two dire possibilities, depending on the weather: a wind-blown wall of flame that could overrun the town, or drifting embers that could start smaller fires across the community.

"There's still a tremendous risk of fire jumping into Show Low," fire spokesman Jim Paxon said, though winds were light and the fire was not the onrushing monster it was late last week.

President Bush planned to tour the area today.

Brown smoke spiraled into a hazy, gray sky Monday and the sun cast a dull orange glow. Ash piled up in gutters and on cars. In neighborhoods nearest the fire, many homes with too much underbrush or wood shingles were marked with red flags to show there was no use trying to save them.

Outside the wood-shingled home of Becky and Dany Seymour, a sprinkler system sprayed the lawn as firefighting helicopters dipped giant buckets into a nearby lake. The Seymours had packed a trailer and their vehicles were ready to go.

"If we see flames, we'll go, but we don't know where we would go," Becky Seymour said.

517 square miles

The blaze in dense pine forest on the edge of eastern Arizona's White Mountains has charred more than 331,000 acres -- or 517 square miles, an area bigger than Los Angeles -- since it began as two fires last week. The fires merged on Sunday.

About 30,000 people have fled more than a half-dozen towns, including Show Low, 125 miles northeast of Phoenix. Show Low has been a virtual ghost town since Saturday, though a few residents like the Seymours have refused to leave.

Hoping to at least blunt the fire's force, crews fortified a line bulldozed at a canyon just west of town and set backfires to remove fuel from the wildfire's path. Firefighters also searched the town for spot fires.

"I think most of our businesses and homes are going to be saved. You have to think that way -- otherwise you'll be in trouble," said evacuated Show Low resident Mari Corella.

The community's economy centers on tourism and recreation, along with forest products. The area, at 6,000 feet, is popular with outdoor enthusiasts and Phoenix-area residents who have built summer homes to escape the desert heat.

The wildfire has already overrun parts of the evacuated communities of Linden, Pinedale, Clay Springs and Heber-Overgaard.

The larger of the fires, the so-called Rodeo blaze, was believed to have been caused June 18 by people, though authorities do not know whether it was an accident or arson. The other was started Thursday by a lost hiker signaling for help.