Wildfire Moves In On Tucson

Residents of about 200 homes and guests at a resort hotel were urged to evacuate as flames from a wildfire licked at an exclusive enclave on the city's northern fringe.

"The fire has spread throughout the Santa Catalina mountains and is threatening the homes in northeast Tucson," Deputy Tom Price told CBS Radio News.

Sheriff's deputies knocked on doors to urge Ventana Canyon residents to evacuate.

"We've had contact with 163 homes in that area," Price said. "Being that it's a voluntary evacuation, 49 have remained at their residence; 26 persons have decided to evacuate."

The voluntary evacuation notice of the homes in Ventana Canyon came Sunday after strong winds pushed the fire downhill faster than expected, fire officials said. At least 340 cabins have already been destroyed.

The fire, which started June 17 and has burned at least 70,000 acres, skirted fire lines last week and burned six cabins between Friday night and early Saturday.

The flames came about a half-mile from the nearest homes Sunday. Fire officials expressed confidence that the homes would be safe, at least partly because many are made of stone or brick.

The area is a high desert enclave in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains.

"We've been doing a voluntary evacuation of the residential area in northeast Tucson, which is sometimes referred to as the Ventana Canyon area. It also includes the Loews Ventana Resort," Price said.

Smoke roiled in ravines along the face of the mountains late Sunday afternoon. Helicopters dropped water as the flames moved downhill through rocky desert terrain.

Sharon Swofford, loading bags into a car with her husband, said resort guests were set up with rooms at another Tucson resort.

The fire also was about a half-mile from the visitor center at Sabino Canyon, a popular recreation area that was closed due to the fire.

The human-caused fire destroyed 317 homes last month in and around the vacation hamlet of Summerhaven.

In New Mexico, the southern edge of a 3,000-acre wildfire burning on Taos Pueblo land is commanding firefighters' attention after the blaze doubled in size Sunday.

So far this year, about 923,000 acres of brush, grass and forest have burned, less than one-third the acreage that burned during the same period last year, the center said.