A fire burning in southern Arizona near the border with Mexico slowed significantly Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
U.S Forest Service officials said the Mule Ridge Fire is now 50 percent contained, and grew to 8,522 acres -- not much beyond the 8,500 acres announced earlier in the weekend.
"Crews assigned to suppress the Mule Ridge fire made significant progress [Saturday] and by evening had secured containment lines around Bear Valley Ranch to protect structures on that property," officials said in a news release sent Sunday afternoon.
The southeastern portion of the fire, which ignited near the town of Ruby last week, remains active and received the focus of the majority of the estimated 225 people assigned to the fire.
One firefighter was hurt Saturday and was taken to a Tucson hospital for treatment of a burn on the arm. He has since been released from the hospital and returned to his crew, officials said.
