Arizona summer camps evacuate as wildfires sweep US West
PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. — An Arizona forest fire that shut down youth summer camps, forced thousands from their homes and came dangerously close to consuming a town was 43 per cent contained by Thursday evening, authorities said.
About 1,400 evacuated residents of the community of Mayer were allowed to go home earlier in the day and Yavapai County Sheriff Scott Mascher estimated 2,000 other residents of other small communities remained out of their homes.
Campgrounds were also emptied and 1,400 children attending summer camps were bused out as the fire approached.
The fire, which has now burned about 45 square miles (116 sq. kilometres), was one of the top firefighting priorities in the U.S. after it rapidly grew while burning through a dense, rugged forest.