Wildfire in northwest Arizona prompts more evacuations

KINGMAN, Ariz. — A dramatic wind shift late Tuesday night prompted evacuations from a 4,400-acre wildfire burning in the Hualapai Mountains in northwest Arizona.

Mohave County Emergency Management coordinator Byron Steward said at least 70 people were evacuated from Pinion Pine, about 10 miles southeast of Kingman.

Steward said back-burning and other protective measures kept the fire away from about 200 homes in the community. About 300 residents of nearby Pine Lake were evacuated from the mountain Monday.

Northern Arizona Incident Management Team operations chief Buck Wickham, during a public meeting in Kingman on Wednesday night, complimented local officials for working to establish protective fire breaks around Pine Lake and Pinion Pine. He said those efforts have been helpful in protecting those communities, which lost no structures.

Lightning sparked the fire on Saturday.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell offered encouragement for the containment effort during her visit to the fire incident command center in downtown Kingman on Tuesday.