‘Wall of fire’ forces evacuation of hundreds of homes near Arizona tourist town

More than 700 homes have been evacuated due to a wildfire which kicked up a towering wall of flames outside a northern Arizona tourist town (Sean Golightly/AP)

More than 700 homes have been evacuated due to a wildfire which kicked up a towering wall of flames outside a northern Arizona tourist town.

Flames as high as 100 feet raced through scattered homes, dry grass and Ponderosa pine trees on the outskirts of Flagstaff, some 140 miles north of Phoenix, as wind gusts of up to 50 mph pushed the blaze over a major highway.