Firefighters Battle Raging Wildfires in Western US

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, June 25, 2002

Firefighters Battle Raging Wildfires in Western US

More than 2,000 U.S. firefighters on Monday battled two raging wildfires that merged into a single blaze and threatened to engulf a largely abandoned town in the western state of Arizona.

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More than 2,000 U.S. firefighters on Monday battled two raging wildfires that merged into a single blaze and threatened to engulf a largely abandoned town in the western state of Arizona.

Predictions of gusty winds and hot, dry weather raised fears that the town of Show Low in eastern Arizona would become kindlingin the 80-kilometer-wide blaze's path, authorities said.

Nearly all the 8,000 residents in the town were evacuated over the weekend, when two fires nearby came together to form a blaze of about 300,000 acres (about 120,000 hectares).

Winds were expected to pick up from the west Monday, with temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 32 degrees Celsius) and humidity in the single digits, said Nancy Lull, spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Firefighters were removing brush, woodpiles and other potentialfuel from around houses in Show Low, she said.

The fires have ravaged eastern Arizona's Mogollon Rim, forcing 25,000 people to flee their homes. At least 11 communities were evacuated.

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