Wildfires blaze in 12 US states, forcing evacuations, killing 2
Baku, June 22 (AZERTAC). Wildfires burning across some 1.4 million acres in 12 states have forced the evacuation of 1,800 homes and businesses in one Texas County and claimed the lives of two firefighters in Florida, authorities said Tuesday.
The two Florida Division of Forestry firefighters died Monday while fighting a wildfire in north-central Florida that had been declared contained but suddenly burst out of control, Amanda Bevis, a division spokeswoman, said Tuesday.
Two other firefighters were injured trying to rescue their colleagues, Bevis said. They were treated and released Monday and will make full recoveries, she said.
In Texas, a fast-moving fire near Grimes County destroyed at least 26 homes as it burned across more than 4,000 acres.
The speed of the fire forced evacuations of whole subdivisions throughout the area.
The fires in Florida and Texas were just two of 53 large uncontained wildfires burning in 11 U.S. states, from Alaska to Florida, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center. All told, the fires have burned 2,166 square miles - nearly the size of Delaware.
The largest of the fires continues to be the Wallow Fire in east central Arizona and west central New Mexico. That fire has burned 527,774 acres so far, the fire`s incident command team announced Tuesday, and is about 56% contained.
In North Carolina, Forest Service officials said they are closely monitoring a fire in Pender County, which has burned more than 4,000 acres.
Critical fire weather was forecast Tuesday for parts of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, with a combination of low humidity and high winds in many locations raising the threat from wildfires.
The weather service also warned that scattered storms forecast in southeast Texas could bring welcome rain but also lightning that could spark new fires.
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