Arizona wildfires burn 60,000 acres, force evacuations

Two wildfires in eastern Arizona have burned more than 60,000 acres and forced hundreds of people to evacuate from the area.

One fire, dubbed the Telegraph Fire, has scorched more than 34,300 acres near the southern part of Tonto National Forest, CNN reports.

The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office warned residents of the 250-person Top-of-the-World community to evacuate, CNN notes, with the office tweeting, “If you choose to ignore this advisement, you must understand emergency services may not be able to assist you further.”

If you choose to ignore this advisement, you must understand emergency services may not be able to assist you further. Follow instructions from emergency personnel, stay on designated evacuation routes and avoid closed areas.

— Pinal County Sheriff’s Office (@PinalCSO) June 6, 2021

The other fire, which has been named the Mescal Fire, has burned more than 25,900 acres of the Mescal Mountains since starting last week. People living near the El Capitan and Soda Canyon areas were evacuated by authorities on Saturday, CNN reports. El Capitan has about 4,800 residents though it is unclear how many were evacuated.

No deaths or injuries relating to the fires have been reported so far.

Just last month, two other Arizona wildfires — the Tussock Fire and the Copper Canyon Fire — burned thousands of acres and forced hundreds of residents living in towns near Phoenix to evacuate.