TUBAC - Flames snaked along ridges of the rugged Tumacacori Mountains as helicopters showered them with load after load of water - making small but vital progress in a fight to contain the Murphy Fire.
The human-caused blaze, burning west of Tubac since Monday, grew to about 21,000 acres Friday.
Fire information officer Melissa Smith said it was only 15 percent contained.
Residents of the Aliso Springs subdivision - tucked in a scenic canyon just 1.5 miles east of the advancing fire - spent a nerve-wracking day as smoke wafted over their homes.
"It was just unnerving to watch that fire come down what is essentially a rock mountain toward us," said Judi Monday, a resident of the subdivision of more than 35 homes. "It's eerie to see those flames, especially at night."
For all the visual fright effect, officials said there were no immediate plans for evacuations.
"We're still confident that no structures are in danger, and we've ordered no evacuations," Smith said. "But people can see the fire from Aliso Springs, and from Tubac, too. That causes some real anxiety."
Smith said some of the approximately 200 personnel working the fire - including hand crews and bulldozer drivers - worked to secure and clear areas around Aliso Springs.
"I think we all feel a whole lot safer today with all the firefighters' efforts," said resident Monday, who said she planned to stay in her home unless warned to leave.
"I'd like to be here as long as I can," she said. "Obviously, living in a remote location like this comes with some risk, but it's a risk I'm willing to take."
Dolores Trujillo, whose family homesteaded in the Aliso Springs area in the early 1900s, said she has a "plus and minus" view of the fire.
"The plus is that there will be no more fires in that same area this year," Trujillo said. "The minus is that this fire is just too close to homes here … We're hoping for rain right now."
On another flank of the fire, flames jumped over Peck Canyon between the Tumacacori Mountains and Atascosa Mountains and pushed south into the Atascosas, officials said.
Contact reporter Doug Kreutz at dkreutz@azstarnet.com or at 573-4192.
