The Horseshoe Fire began on May 26, 7 miles south of Portal, in Arizona on the eastern edge of the Chiricahua Wilderness Area.
It spread across 1,600 acres in its first week. In the 17 days since, it has cooled and slowed, adding an average 50 to 100 acres a day. It had burned across 2,862 acres as of Thursday morning.
An original firefighting force that grew to 800 and used air tankers and heavy helicopters in the task has been replaced with a 146-person team charged with monitoring the fire's progress and taking steps to steer it away from critical areas.
In the past week, crews have worked to strengthen defenses on the fire's northeast perimeter, where it continues to creep toward Portal and Cave Creek. It is 25 percent contained and the estimated full containment date is July 10. Cost of fighting the fire to date is $8,647,300.
People are also reading…
The fire is human-caused and under investigation.
