USATODAY.com Nation News [expanded by...: Arizona wildfire evacuees may be OK'd to return home

USATODAY.com Nation News [expanded by feedex.net] USATODAY.com Nation News Arizona wildfire evacuees may be OK'd to return home 23 Jun 2011, 7:11 pm Arizona wildfire evacuees may be OK'd to return home By Lindsey Collom, The Arizona Republic SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. -- The last wave of evacuees from a southern Arizona fire that has grown to 45 square miles may be allowed to return home Thursday, authorities say. By David Kadlubowski, The Arizona Republic via AP Gayle Gehr and her grandson Nathan Jacob look at their burned home that was destroyed from the Monument Fire near Sierra Vista, Ariz., on Wednesday. By David Kadlubowski, The Arizona Republic via AP Gayle Gehr and her grandson Nathan Jacob look at their burned home that was destroyed from the Monument Fire near Sierra Vista, Ariz., on Wednesday. The Cochise County Sheriff's Office lifted an evacuation order for most of those residents Wednesday following a nearby controlled burn that eliminated grasses and other ground fuels. When complete, the operation will have created a 3-mile-long catcher's mitt-shaped buffer zone linking a burned-out area from the now-cold Garden fire at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., and the lip of the Monument fire, incident commander Greg Poncin said. "This is the biggest break we've gotten in this thing," Poncin said, hoping to declare "potential victory" over it this weekend. Forest Service officials project that full containment won't be reached until mid-July; it is now 59% contained. Sheriff Larry Dever told The Associated Press he firmly believes illegal immigrants started the fire. "There is no other logical assessment available -- not fireworks, not campfires, not someone passing by in a vehicle. It was somebody on foot in a high-intensity foot traffic area," said Dever, adding that the area near the Mexico border where the fire started was remote and closed to visitors. Dever is known as an advocate for tougher border enforcement and a political ally of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has been catching flak for suggesting that illegal immigrants were responsible for starting some of the massive wildfires in the state. The fire started June 12 in the Coronado National Monument along the border and raced through various canyons to this area about 15 miles from the border. Evacuee Roseanna Brown Warrior and her husband, Danny Brown, have been sleeping on the floor of their son's apartment for about a week.Warrior said their saving grace this week has been fellow community members. "Thank God these people held on together," she said. "When I thought my house was gone, they held me." Warrior later learned their house was intact. At one point during the fire, more than 12,000 people were forced from their residences. A total of 57 homes have burned in the farmlands and canyons surrounding Sierra Vista, along with 42 outbuildings, six businesses and several vehicles, Sheriff's Office employees said during a Wednesday community meeting. In other major Arizona fires: •The Wallow fire in eastern Arizona's White Mountains, the largest active fire in the U.S. and the largest in state history, has burned nearly 830 square miles and is nearly 60 percent contained. That is more than half the size of the state of Rhode Island. U.S. 180 through the area has now reopened, but evacuations remain in effect in areas north of the Blue River in Arizona. •The Horseshoe Two fire in southeastern Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains and Coronado National Forest is 95 percent contained. It started May 8 and had consumed nearly 350 square miles as of Wednesday. For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, sendto letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com. We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed.