Firefighters slowly winning battle in Arizona

Fire crews finally made progress against the worst wildfire in Arizona’s history yesterday, but swirling winds raised fears of more blazes.

‘‘We have to emphasise that Mother Nature is still in control,’’ fire spokesman Jim Paxon said. ‘‘But we are on the scoreboard. We haven’t been there for eight days. We are making some progress.’’

The 410,000 acre blaze, one of the most destructive ever in the western US, was still just 5% contained by last night.

Officials said it could be several days before they gain the upper hand, and that depends largely on the weather.

The fire has destroyed at least 390 homes since it began eight days ago. Smoke has spread across the Southwest and was seen as far south as El Paso, Texas, 260 miles away.

Show Low, a town of 7,700 in eastern Arizona, remained evacuated. But Paxon said fire crews were

increasingly hopeful it could be saved.

In Pinedale Estates, a community eight miles west of Show Low, firefighters saved several homes by bulldozing the vegetation around them.

In southern Colorado, hot weather and shifting winds challenged firefighters near Durango, where new flames damaged buildings, closed a road and forced more evacuations. Two fires in the area have burned more than 70,000 acres and destroyed at least 45 homes - thousands have been evacuated.

Southwest of Denver, crews had 77% contained a 137,000 acre fire that has destroyed at least 133 homes.

A car fire in Southern California ignited tinder dry brush yesterday and quickly spread across 1,500 acres, closing the main road between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The Arizona fire was created when two smaller blazes merged over the weekend. One fire was started by a lost hiker signalling for help. It was not known what sparked the other.