PUNKIN CENTER, Ariz. – A wildfire that has charred 65,000 acres in central Arizona jumped a highway Friday where firefighters were hoping to contain it, forcing the evacuation of a handful of homes in the tiny community of Sunflower.
"No structures have been lost to this point," said Jim Whittington, a spokesman for the crews fighting the fire. "We're going to have our hands full."
Another 350 homes near another side of the fire also remained evacuated.
The fire was as close as a half-mile to that area, said Angela Goldman, a spokeswoman for the team fighting the fire.
Arizona firefighters also battled a 10,500-acre fire 15 miles northeast of Wickenburg in the Bradshaw Mountains (search). That blaze was 50 percent contained Friday, said George Taylor, a spokesman for the team fighting the fire.
In southwestern Utah, residents of the village of Motoqua returned to their homes Friday after the threat from a 3,500-acre wildfire subsided.
The fire destroyed one home on a ranch, but 19 other structures near the town were not damaged, said David Boyd, a fire spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management (search). No injuries were reported. The residents had left their homes voluntarily as the flames approached, Boyd said.
The National Interagency Fire Center (search) said 32 large fires were active Friday, mostly in western states. About 3.9 million acres have burned this year, compared with 4.6 million at this time last year.
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