- It's the 2nd largest wildfire in all of Arizona's history;
- It began a little more than a week ago;
- It has consumed 311,481 acres since it started May 29;
- Roughly 2,500 firefighters, including many from several Western states and as far away as New York, are working to contain the blaze;
- Two other fires--besides this one--have blackened large portions of the state;
- Haze was being carried by a ridge of high pressure as far as central Iowa, said Kyle Fredin, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Denver. The smoke was also visible in New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska and, yes, our own Kansas;
- The fire is considered totally uncontained;
- The fire is growing;
- It has driven thousands from their homes in eastern Arizona and grown to 486 square miles;
- It is bearing down on two of the most populous towns in the mountains.
Link to more information: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/07/137041434/wildfire-becomes-second-largest-in-arizona-history
Basically this fire is the size of the Kansas City metro, or New Orleans metro. To give that more depth, I can tell you that it is 65 miles or so from KCI to 140th St. in Olathe. The amount of real estate covered here is mind blowing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input. It seemed like, as you put it, mind-blowing to me but I couldn't really tell the size of it from their description.
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