Arizona Wildfires

The U.S. Forest Service awarded a contract to construct a permanent helicopter base on the Payson Ranger District to improve responses to wildfires.

Despite burning nearly 955,000 acres, the Arizona wildfire season did not claim many structures or lives compared to other Western states.

A brush fire closed both directions of Interstate 17 north of Phoenix on Monday afternoon for about two hours.

Firefighters have the upper hand on the Horse Fire south of Prescott as containment increased from 63% to 74%, authorities said on Sunday morning.

Crews continue to make progress against a wildfire that has burned close to 10,000 acres near Prescott.

Crews are making headway against a forest fire that has been burning for several days north of Phoenix.

The Horse Fire burning near Prescott that forced the evacuation of the Crown King community grew slightly to 8,950 acres as of Saturday morning.

A wildfire burning north of Phoenix grew from 3,500 acres to 8,300 acres on Friday and was 0% contained as of 6 p.m., according to authorities.

Fire crews continue to control the Sears Fire, which has burned 14,476 acres northeast of Phoenix. The fire remains 60% contained.

After steadily growing since igniting last week, the Sears Fire northeast of metro Phoenix appears to have stabilized and containment continues to increase.