PUNKIN CENTER, Ariz. (AP) -- A 71,665-acre wildfire near Punkin Center in central Arizona was fully contained.
High humidity over the weekend helped firefighters contain the Edge Complex fire Sunday night, said Jim Whittington, a spokesman for the team fighting the fire.
''When you get a little bit of humidity on it, it greatly diminishes the intensity of the fire,'' Whittington said. ''When the humidity set in Friday and Saturday, we were able to make fast progress on the perimeter.''
Earlier in the fire, people were asked to evacuate about 350 houses in the Sleepy Hollow, Sycamore Creek, Mazatzal and Walnut Springs subdivisions. About 15 homes in the rural community of Sunflower, west of the fire, also were evacuated. All residents were allowed to return Friday.
Firefighters rehabilitated the area Monday by rebuilding roads and recreational trails.
TWIN MILLS FIRE
KINGMAN, Ariz. (AP) -- A nearly 12,000-acre wildfire was 95 percent contained Monday night after rains helped firefighting efforts over the weekend.
Full containment for the fire was expected by Tuesday night, said Wendell Peacock, a spokesman for the team fighting the blaze.
The fire, started by lightning on Friday, was listed at 13,000 acres earlier Monday but Peacock said more accurate mapping lowered the acreage to 11,927.
While the rains brought higher humidity and lower temperatures, some areas became so muddy that firefighters had a hard time working around the fire, according to Peacock.
''The weather has been a boon and a pain for us,'' Peacock said.
He said 300 firefighters were reinforcing lines, working on hot spots and dropping water over the Twin Mills fire Monday. The number of firefighters was expected to be reduced by half.
People living in homes scattered outside of the fire's perimeter had voluntarily evacuated the area Saturday while crews conducted burnout operations to destroy natural fuels around the structures. The residents returned home shortly after the burnout operations.
About 50 homes in Golden Valley three miles from the fire also had been threatened over the weekend, but they were not in danger Monday.
''Right now we don't have anything near the fire we consider threatened,'' Peacock said.
BARFOOT FIRE
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- A 1,581-acre fire in the Chiricahua Mountains was 50 percent contained Monday, with full containment expected by Saturday.
More than 130 firefighters rehabilitated the area Monday and monitored the fire, said Marylee Peterson, a Coronado National Forest spokeswoman.
After receiving more than an inch of rain Sunday, the fire wasn't expected to grow, Peterson said.
The fire forced the evacuation of Pine Canyon United Methodist Camp, but the camp's structures were not threatened.
The blaze started by lightning July 17.
