Dry lightning, wind making it more difficult to fight wildfire north of Safford

An approximately 5,000-acre wildfire is burning in the Black Mountains of Graham County.

The Treadway Fire was created when two fires merged Sunday. The fires started Saturday about 18 miles north of Safford and within two miles of each other. It is not threatening any infrastructure, buildings or cultural values, the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management said.

"Dry lightning and erratic winds associated with monsoon storms are complicating firefighting efforts by creating very extreme fire activity over the last 48 hours," the department said in a news release Monday afternoon.

The fire pushed northeast through the afternoon Sunday, onto the San Carlos Reservation and into flatter country where a hotshot crew conducted burnout operations overnight and again Monday, state fire officials said.

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However, "due to erratic winds, the fire pushed out to the northwest toward Slaughter Mountain. With more rugged terrain on that side, crews must wait for the fire to come out and into flat ground before they can safely engage. Aircraft will be used, if necessary on Tuesday to help slow the fire’s progression on that northwest side until crews can safely begin suppression efforts."

Air attack has been requested for Tuesday, Aug. 1.