Story highlights
Fire has scorched 8,500 acres near Flagstaff since Tuesday
Dust-dry pine needles, high winds and steep slopes make for ideal fire conditions
Hundreds of homes, businesses are threatened and have been evacuated
The blaze is 5% contained
As one of hundreds of evacuees in Arizona’s raging wildfire, Serena Chesmore valued family over home.
She ensured the safety of the most precious things in the world: her family and pets.
Her house in Kachina Village, after all, is replaceable, Chesmore said Friday.
“The kids, the pets, the photos – they can’t be replaced,” Chesmore said.
But Chesmore said she is hoping that firefighters will be able to save her house and 300 other homes and businesses from an Arizona forest fire roaring through park land. She made an early jump on a pre-evacuation notice given to about 3,200 residents in Coconino County.
The online Incident Information System reported Friday night that much of the fire burned with lower intensity throughout the day, allowing firefighters to make some progress.
However, despite that progress, the total area scorched climbed to 8,500 acres, and the containment level held steady at 5%.
Weather conditions “will likely worsen” during the Memorial Day weekend, which could cause problems containing the fire, CNN meteorologist Matt Daniel said. He said temperatures are expected to warm up, humidity will decrease during the day, and winds are expected to go up.
Firefighters face rough conditions
The equivalent of a battalion of 960 firefighters, including 15 hotshot crews and three air tankers, have been fighting the fire between Flagstaff and Sedona – a tourist and retirement destination famed for its red rock formations – since Tuesday afternoon.
Tony Sciacca, a fire incident commander, said it’s been an uphill battle for the firefighters battling the blaze.
“They’re engaged in tough terrain, cutting vegetation, applying fire to the landscape as they need to in burnout operations,” Sciacca said.
Area residents took to Facebook on Friday to thank firefighters.
“Thank you again for your tireless work on this monster,” Mavis Kimball posted to the Slide Fire Information Facebook page. “We who call this place home so appreciate you.”
“So thankful the best of the best are here on the Slide Fire,” wrote Terry Schneider.
Dust-dry pine needles, high winds and steep slopes have made for ideal conditions for the fire to spread rapidly, fire officials say. And it has.
The flames that investigators fear were ignited by human hands appear to have consumed hundreds of acres in a few hours’ time, according to officials.
The wind has blasted vigorously and erratically through fiery gulches, with gusts up to 30 mph, but has not blown towards the populated Flagstaff area.
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CNN’s Ana Cabrera reported from Arizona. Ben Brumfield reported from Atlanta, and Michael Martinez reported and wrote from Los Angeles. CNN’s Steve Almasy and Shawn Nottingham also contributed to this report.