TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- A growing wildfire swept over a ridge of television and radio towers and appeared to have entered a ski area after burning about 250 homes in a mountain hamlet, authorities said Saturday.
With the flames still out of control, firefighters feared it would char tens of thousands of acres before they could stop it.
The fire had grown to more than 6,300 acres by Saturday and continued to threaten what remained of Summerhaven, as well as surrounding homes on Mount Lemmon. Crews concentrated Saturday on digging lines to try to control the blaze and protect homes, transmission towers and an observatory, said Heidi Schewel, a fire spokeswoman.
One tower was damaged, she said. She had no further details.
Firefighters are in for ``a long, hard-fought contest,'' said Larry Humphrey, commander of the team battling the wildfire.
Up to 1,000 firefighters are expected to be battling it within a few days. Humphrey estimated it could take them two to three weeks to contain the blaze.
The fire, driven by winds gusting up to 60 mph, first roared through Summerhaven on Thursday, leaving behind a trail of smoking rubble. The fire soon spread over the top of 9,157-foot Mount Lemmon and was burning down the north side. It appeared to have entered Mount Lemmon Ski Valley on Saturday, but it wasn't clear if there was extensive damage.
Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll, whose district includes Mount Lemmon, said the wildfire had left ``probably three or four foundations for every cabin left.''
Some luxury homes were burned to the ground, but their gates, hedges and mailboxes were untouched, Carroll said.
A convertible stood unmarred near one devastated house. ``Not a scratch, not a cinder,'' Carroll said. ``Didn't even need a paint job. Doesn't even need a car wash at this point. ... Explain that one to me.''
By Saturday morning, the firefighters had managed to save 25 more homes in Summerhaven, which had an estimated 700 homes and cabins and a handful of businesses before the blaze, Peterson said.
Firefighters knew early they would have little chance of stopping the fire's spread.
``By the time this thing ignited, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion this thing was going to go where it wanted to go,'' Humphrey said.
The fire began in a place where the wind would take it right into town, he said. The area has been at its driest, giving fuel to the flames.
``It was kind of a double whammy-type thing on there, and actually, pretty much no matter what we did, we didn't have a chance,'' Humphrey said.
The blaze consumed pine trees ravaged by years of drought and a beetle infestation. Firefighters had tried to protect the homes along a trail about a mile away, but had to pull back when the intense blaze leaped the path. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
The wildfire was one of several in Arizona, where fire officials are braced for another busy year after seeing 630,000 acres burned in 2002.
For hundreds of thousands in Tucson, Summerhaven was a treasured escape from triple-digit heat in the summer and a place to throw snowballs or ski in the winter. For the 100 or so who call it home year-round, it's a tight-knit community with a rich history.
Residents and owners of second homes who were forced to evacuate continue to wait in Tucson, about 20 miles to the south, to learn the fate of their homes.
Lyn Guinther of Tucson said she was picking out dishes and tile grout for her new $200,000 cabin when the fire struck. She had been looking forward to celebrating the holidays there.
``My family is just devastated,'' she said. ``My two grandchildren and son were really counting on this.''
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