Firefighters are concerned that winds and hot temperatures will recharge a wildfire Wednesday that destroyed three homes and burned one man near Sierra Vista in southeastern Arizona.
The reportedly human-caused fire began at about 1:00 Tuesday in the Sonoita area and began burning toward the east.
The U.S. Forest Service says the Canelo Fire has destroyed five outbuildings and six private vehicles.
A man with third degree burns was transported by helicopter to the Maricopa Medical Center burn unit in Phoenix. His condition is not known.
The fire closed Fort Huachuca’s West Gate Tuesday. It re-opened Tuesday night, according to officials.
Fort Huachuca fire trucks and firefighters helped the Sonoita Fire Department fight the flames in the afternoon.
Fire officials said the blaze began on private land and moved onto Coronado National Forest lands in the late afternoon.
A Forest Service spokeswoman says officially, the fire burned 1,500-plus acres since it started Tuesday on private land west of Fort Huachuca. Unofficially, it may have charred at least 4,000 acres.
She says residents in a 50-home subdivision outside the fort's west gate are being allowed to return.
