7 States Face Extreme Fire Risk

The weather isn't making things any easier for firefighters battling blazes across Arizona. The National Weather Service has issued a red-flag warning for most of Arizona, all of New Mexico, much of north Texas, and parts of Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, and Utah. All the states will face high heat, low humidity, and strong winds of 30 to 50 mph. The Arizona fire that started on May 29 has now burned 500,409 acres. So far this year, 3.1 million acres have been burned, almost as much as were burned in all of last year. A cause of the fires has not been determined. Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona said trees should have been cut down in advance. Sen. John McCain blamed illegal immigrants for starting the fires, but he provided no evidence, prompting rebukes from civil-rights leaders.