Things were quiet this morning on the Horseshoe 2 Fire burning in the Chiricahua Mountains, 110 miles southeast of Tucson.
“But things are starting to dry out and temperatures are rising,” said Dave Killebrew, spokesman for the team fighting the blaze.
A second day of “red flag” conditions — low humidity and high winds — is predicted.
The fire, burning since May 8 across the Chiricahua Wilderness, is now approaching the Chiricahua National Monument, which has been evacuated and closed.
Evacuations were also ordered Thursday for the rural enclave of Paradise and homes in East Whitetail Canyon after fire blew across fire lines on the northwest side.
“The new contingency area is going to encompass a fairly large area north of the current burned area, up to, but not including the Chiricahua National Monument,” said Killebrew. “We’re going to try to keep it out of the monument if at all possible,” he said.
Before Thursday, containment lines encircled 75 percent of the fire. That percentage has shrunk to 50 percent.
