Firefighters battling to protect a mountaintop observatory from twin wildfires turned their attention to summer homes in the path of the flames now charring more than 26,000 acres.
Nearly 100 summer homes in the southeastern Arizona communities of Turkey Flat and Columbine remained at risk Thursday. The two lightning-caused blazes were about two miles apart and could possibly merge.
One blaze, estimated at 16,879 acres, was burning in Wet Canyon and officials were worried the fire would make its way up to Turkey Flat, a nearby community of about 74 cabins.
The fire also was within a quarter-mile of the $200 million Mount Graham International Observatory, home to some of the world‘s most powerful telescopes. and within three-quarters of a mile from Turkey Flat.
