Gladiator Fire Threatens Arizona Towns

The Gladiator Fire is frightening small communities near Prescott National Forest between Prescott and Phoenix,Arizona.The historic mountaintop mining town of Crown King,as well as Battle Flat,Pine Flats and Turkey Creek have been evacuated.Four homes were burned and there have been four injuries reported.The fire began on May 13 at 11 am,originating from a structure on private property.Fuels being consumed include chapparal and ponderosa pine.Threats are posed to Forest Service campgrounds;lookout towers;communications sites;power lines;and historic sites on Prescott National Forest.The fire is on steep and rugged terrain that is difficult of access.Some 640 wildland firefighters were engaged against the fire as of Friday from 14 states,including New Jersey,Texas and California.It has cost around 2,788,553 dollars so far.Several Forest Service roads are closed,and the Red Cross has established a Care and Reception Center at Mayer Elementary School.The five p's of immediate evacuation are people and pets;papers;prescriptions;pictures;and personal computer.The fire is 5% contained and is now believed to be more than 10,000 acres in size,according to a local TV station.It is the number one priority fire in the nation.As winds gusted more than 50 mph,air tankers were grounded for most of the day Friday,but Type 1 helicopters were used to dump water on the fire as much as possible until 7:22 pm.Joe Reinarz is incident commander. Update:By Saturday morning,the Gladiator Fire had grown to 12,898 acres.It was 10% contained.The number of wildland firefighters involved had risen to 882. Update 2:As of late Saturday night Mountain Time,1048 wildland firefighters had gotten the Gladiator Fire 12% contained.