A wildfire raged unchecked for an 11th dayon Wednesday, engulfing a deserted town, forcing thousands of people in nearby towns to flee and leaving 600 square miles (1,550 square km) of pine forest blackened.
The blaze, which is believed to have been started by campers, ranks as Arizona's second-largest forest fire on record. It cut through the popular mountain retreat of Greer, which had been evacuated days before, authorities told reporters in the nearby town of Springerville.
Captain Jim Wilkins, a US Forest Service fire official, said it was too soon to know how many of several hundred homes in the town were lost.
Earlier on Wednesday, authorities ordered the complete evacuation of Springerville and a third mountain community, Eager. The two towns, both situated near the New Mexico border, are home to 8,000 people combined.
As many as 2,000 people had fled the Springerville-Eager area over the past two days, but officials had allowed most residents to stay pending possible further evacuations.
As many as 11,000 residents have been displaced in the White Mountains region, since the fire started on 29 May.
Although the blaze remained at "zero containment", with firefighters unable to contain it, no injuries have been reported with known property losses limited to 11 structures, including at least four cabins, fire officials said. Around 2,000 firefighters were battling the blaze.
New Mexico state officials were also readying for the blaze, which they said was about a mile from the border on Wednesday, to cross into their state.
Winds fanning the fire through tinder-dry ponderosa pines were expected to intensify again on Wednesday.
"This fire is very large and very intense, and we're still just trying to get a handle on it," said fire information officer Brenyn Lohmoelder.
One of the biggest challenges facing fire crews is the danger of additional spot fires ignited by burning embers carried by high winds, said Jim Whittington, a fire official.
Fire officials said the so-called Wallow fire had charred up to 157,000 hectares (389,000 acres) in and around the Apache-Sitgreaves national forest.
Smoke from the conflagration, which fire officials suspect may have started from an unattended campfire, has drifted as far east as Iowa.
Nearly 1,000 firefighters battled to gain greater control over a separate large wildfire burning in the south-east of the state.
Officials said the Horseshoe 2 fire had consumed nearly 43,000 hectares and prompted the evacuation of two small communities. Seven structures were reported lost in that fire, which was listed as 50% contained.
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